Teen Titans: Deathstroke
by Axel Cratos
Summary: The direct sequel to Teen Titans: Hidden Agenda. The Titans return to Jump City after the defeat of the second 'Brotherhood' uprising. Beast Boy tries to help Terra deal with the death of her brother, but with little luck. But all is according to plan.R
1. Prologue

_At long last, it is here. The highly anticipated sequel to _Teen Titans: Hidden Agenda _and beginning of a series that might possible extend to a trilogy or more. If you have not read the first in my series than I strongly suggest you read it because you will have absolutly no idea what's going on. The only characters I own are the ones I've created and any others that are not from the show I have borrowed from friends and will be giving credit for them._

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Prologue

"I HATE YOU!" screamed a young blond haired boy as he pushed a blond haired girl to the ground.

The girl angrily brushed her hair from her eyes and pushed the boy back with equal force. "GOOD CAUSE I HATE YOU!" she screamed. The two children glared at each other with more hate than they had ever felt towards each other, their faces identical in appearance as though they were staring at their own reflection. Without another word the two turned their backs to each other and ran off in opposite directions, one going east, and the other going west. They both stopped fifty yards away and slowly turning their heads back to look at the other. It was the furthest distance they had ever been apart; they had spent their whole lives in each other's company. One was never found without the other. They were about to meet each others gaze when they snapped their heads back and continued to walk away. Their minds were made up; they never wanted to see each other again.

Suddenly the landscape flickered causing their bodies to misalign and they were instantly transported to a small town. The girl walked along the winding streets begging any body that passed if she could have something to eat. The boy was moving at an equal pace beside her and was soon stopped by an elderly couple who offered him a place to stay. The boy disappeared inside their house, leaving the girl alone in the street. But she didn't seem to notice that he had left, nor did she even acknowledge the existence of the couple or anyone on the boy's side of the street.

The landscape flickered again and the boy appeared once again by the side of the girl, only this time they were both enduring a considerable amount of pain from the local citizens. The girl was being chased down the street by a group of grown men who were hurling rocks at her for unknown reasons. The only possible clue as to why they were doing so was that one of them was bleeding just above his right eyebrow. The boy however, was being beaten by a crowd with household objects and anything else they could get their hands on. Without warning, the boy began lashing out at the crowd, sending waves of earth across them, killing everything in its path.

The landscape flickered once again and the two children were now much older but still looked very much alike. The only difference between them was that the boy looked in much better health than the girl who looked like she had been slightly deflated, much like a balloon. Though they were standing right next to each other, they looked as though they were a world apart. The girl was sitting with her hands wrapped around her knees in the center of a cave doodling on the dirt floor. To her left, the boy whom was standing alone on a street corner disappeared for a moment then snapped back into existence with his right arm clamped around his ear. He muttered something through his teeth and brushed his ear a few times before moving on to an electronic store down the road. The girl was singing something to herself and shifted her posture so her doodle came into view. It was a poorly drawn birthday cake with nine candles sticking out of it with equally bad flames and scribbles around the edges where there would have been frosting. She puffed up her cheeks and blew across her doodle, allowing it to disappear into the wind leaving the floor bare once again. Some minutes later the boy exited the store holding several bags in his arms and his pants were bursting with stolen merchandise. The owner of the store came running out holding his bleeding head and lunged at the boy in an effort to stop him. The boy quickly dropped all he was carrying and swung his foot around, knocking the man to the ground. Something flashed inside the boy's eyes and he made a cutting motion with his arm and the man disappeared into the street.

The boy turned to leave but oddly his foot never touched the ground as he made his next step. In fact the boy wasn't moving at all and neither was the girl. There was a soft clink of metal against metal as a small, square device was placed on top of an armrest. An almost inaudible sigh could be heard in the silent room as a lone man sat back in his chair. He picked up a small, delicate cup and took a sip of its contents before placing back in its equally delicate saucer. His gaze drifted back and forth between the boy and the girl who were now frozen in a trance like state. He knew them both very well; he had been studying them for some time, learning how each of them grew to who they are now. Or in some cases, were.

His gaze finally fell upon the girl as he took another sip from his cup, studying her silently. He knew her as a kind hearted, sweet little girl who knew nothing but compassion for others. That is until her true disposition revealed itself, harming those who she sought to protect. Truly a wolf in sheep's clothing. The boy on the other hand, her brother, had the heart of a jackal and cared of nothing but his own gain. But in time his heart would soften, revealing the small, childlike interior he had hidden away.

Footsteps echoed down the hall and soon they were upon the man, but he did nothing as he continued to watch the monitor. He merely smiled sinisterly and said "My, my…getting a little eager are we"?

The figure behind him said nothing; it merely stood where it was, silently gazing at the monitor flickering before it. The figure studied the monitors with a great deal of curiosity, but before it could ask the man said "It is nothing" and turned the monitor off. The man drank the last of what was left in his cup and his face became hidden as he replaced his iron mask that was resting on the other armrest. He pressed another button on his remote and the monitor snapped back on showing blueprints for a very complicated computer system. "You see this?" he said calmly. The figure gazed at it silently knowing not what it was looking at. "This is what you are going to get this for me…understand".

The figure looked to the man; its expression told the man that it wanted to know why and more importantly, when. "You will know in good time" replied the man. He placed his chin on his hands so he could get a closer look at the blueprints. "But first I will need to locate it before I send you out to get it". The figure looked at the image, then back to the man. The man smiled and said "Yes…it does exist".

The man got up from his chair and circled around a desk that was covered with papers and pieces of equipment he had been working on. "Leave me, I have work to do" he said sternly and flipped through a stack of papers that was written with information that only he could understand. After a moment, the man looked up to see the figure still standing next to his chair continuing to stare at him with eyes full of eagerness. The man let out a long sigh and said "I was saving this for when you were ready but…" he turned the monitor back on and cycled through several images until he came upon one displaying an old warehouse "…it looks as though you won't leave me be until I give you something to do". He picked up a small disk from his desk and pulled out a metallic mask that his combat drones wore. He first handed the disk to the figure and said with a sense of authority "This disk will lead you to your target…_don't_ lose it". He then handed the mask to the figure and was disappointed to find that it didn't know what to do with it. The man took the mask from the figure and carefully placed it over its face and made sure it was secured. He had removed the white eye covers that the drones normally had to give the impression that they were human to allow the figure to see out of it with its own eyes. The man then turned the figure towards the door and led him into a large room where an elevator was waiting. "Now go…and don't come back until you're done and…" his gaze fell upon a dark corner of the room where the silhouette of a table could just barely be made out "…take _that_ on your way out".

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_For those who are new to the series, welcome. To those who are familiar, welcome back. Don't be afraid to review, but if you flame me don't be surprised if I flame you in my reply._


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Peace and Quiet

_Three Weeks Later…_

"Let go of the pizza or the arm comes off".

Cyborg tightened his grip around Beast Boy's wrist as he tried to force him to give up the last slice of pizza.

"No way Cy, you've already had like fifty pieces" Beast Boy replied and used his other hand to try and pry Cyborg's off. Raven rolled her eyes and flipped through the pages of her book hoping they would leave the restaurant soon before the two caused a scene.

"Dude there are not fifty slices in three large pizzas now LEGGO!" Cyborg countered and squeezed harder. Beast Boy's grip on the pizza loosened and Cyborg went in for the kill. But just as he was about to grab the pizza, a brown glove, covering a small slender hand, came out of no where and snatched it out from under them. Cyborg and Beast Boy quickly stopped fighting and turned to the owner of the hand, Terra.

"Thanks guys" Terra said with a smile as she held the pizza above her triumphantly. She lowered the pizza and slowly placed it into her mouth when Beast Boy grabbed the other end and pulled it away before she could take a bite.

"Hands off Terra, it's mine" said Beast Boy who was now engaged in a game of tug-of-war with his girlfriend.

"Hands off yourself, its mine now" she replied trying to sound threatening when she was almost laughing and pressed her boot into his face.

Cyborg looked between his two friends with a goofy smile on his face. Now here was entertainment. Sparks began to fly from both of them and Cyborg knew things were heating up. "OH YEAH!" he shouted trying to sound like an announcer "LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE"!

At this, Beast Boy and Terra stopped instantly and glared at Cyborg coldly. They looked to each other and realized how stupid they must have looked and backed off. "Uh…sorry, you can have it" Beast Boy said sheepishly as he handed the slice over to Terra.

"No" she replied instantly and pushed it closer to him "we can share it".

Cyborg groaned and slumped down in his seat. "Oh man" Cyborg complained as he leaned on his arm "and I was all geared up for some good 'ol kick boxing…shouldn't have said anything".

Terra and Beast Boy rolled their eyes simultaneously and held the slice in between them and began to eat it. Cyborg cocked his eyebrow as he tried to figure out why they were starting at opposite ends instead of just splitting it in half. They came closer and closer together until their faces were mere inches apart until they stopped, both of their eyes closed as they leaned forward. Realizing what they were about to do, Cyborg placed his hands in between them and pushed them apart. "OH HELL NO, DO NOT DO THAT IN FRONT OF ME" he shouted in disgust "THAT'S ALMOST AS BAD AS WHEN I WALKED IN ON RAVEN TRYING TO KISS TERR-"

"Ahem!" came a loud cough.

Cyborg turned to Raven where he thought the cough had originated but she merely shook her head and returned to her book. Cyborg then looked to Beast Boy and found he looked quite annoyed. "What"?

Beast Boy pointed to Terra discretely and pushed Cyborg's hand away from him. Cyborg looked at Terra and found she was looking quite sad. "Uh Terra" Cyborg said wearily "you ok"?

"I'm fine" she mumbled and got up from the table "Here Beast Boy, I'm not hungry". She handed to him the last bit of the pizza and walked away but wasn't able to get to the stairs before Beast Boy stopped her.

"Terra" he said and placed his hand on her shoulder "you don't have to leave; we could find something else to do, just the two of us".

She faked a smile and said "No thanks, I'm not in the mood right now" she kissed him gently on the cheek and then descended down the stairs. "I'll meet you back at the Tower". And with that she disappeared down the street.

Beast Boy's shoulders sagged as he slumped back down into his chair and fiddle with a crumb. "Nice going" he grumbled.

"Dude I didn't know she was still so sensitive about the topic" Cyborg replied as he called a passing waitress over to their table "you'd think after two months she would have gotten over it".

"Well she hasn't!" Beast Boy said angrily "do you have any idea how hard it was to convince her to come with us today"?

"Veggie or cheese"?

"What"?

"Your topping dude" Cyborg clarified as a teenaged waitress took their order.

"Oh…veggie I guess" Beast Boy replied a bit more calmly.

"That'll be all ma'am" Cyborg said to the waitress.

"Ok" she said, sounding somewhat annoyed, as she played with one of her many earrings. She turned back to the kitchen and called "HEY JOE, YOUR FAVORITE CUSTOMER WANTS ANOTHER ROUND, TWO LARGES, ONE CHEESE AND ONE VEGGIE"!

The waitress rolled her eyes as she heard curses coming from the kitchen and turned back to Cyborg. "Sorry about that, he's still a little sore after the last time you were here".

"No problem" Cyborg said and with that the waitress left to take other orders. "Don't see to many red heads lately huh".

"What are you talking about" Beast Boy asked.

"The waitress dude".

Beast Boy looked at their waitress. She had short brown hair, blue eyes and several earrings in each ear. "She has brown hair" he corrected.

Cyborg looked at their waitress but saw a very different person. The waitress he saw had long red hair and brown eyes with no earrings at all. She seemed very annoyed when anyone looked at her. "What are you talking about, she has red hair".

"Brown"

"Red"

"Brown"

"Red"

"SHUT UP!" Raven shouted threateningly "she has brown hair, end of story".

"Yes" said Beast Boy and pumped his fist. He was about to high-five Raven but she gave him a death glare and he quickly backed down. "Soooo" Beast Boy said "weren't we supposed to meet Robin and Star here".

"Yeah" Cyborg replied and looked down at his arm that was now displaying the time "bout an hour ago".

"What's taking them?" Beast Boy complained as he leaned his back against the table.

"You know them" Cyborg said and clasped his hands together "they like to be aloooone".

For some reason, when Cyborg said 'alone' Beast Boy had several images of him and Terra flashed through his mind and he suddenly felt depressed. "You know" he said in a low tone "I think I'm gonna head back to, see ya".

As soon as Beast Boy was out of ear shot, Cyborg said humorously "I guess he and Terra wanted to alone too".

Raven snapped her book shut and glared at Cyborg "Would you just leave them alone".

"Since when did you care when I made fun of him"?

"As much as they bug me, they're my friends and yours to" Raven said threateningly "besides I don't recall your little relationship with Jinx going so-"

"Don't go there" Cyborg snarled ominously and took a long sip of his drink.

_The Mall…_

"OH ROBIN, THIS HAS BEEN A MOST GLOURIOUS DAY AT THE MALL OF SHOPPING!" declared a teenaged Tamarnean girl, drawing a lot of attention from other shoppers.

"Glad that you liked it" Robin replied, not at all happy drawing attention from the other shoppers. He never was fond of going out in public, especially in full uniform causing him to stick out like a sore thumb. It always made him feel…awkward and the sounds of admirers, jokers, usually making fun of him, and winy kids wanting their autograph didn't help. Though Robin was glad he could spend time with Starfire, he would do anything to get away from this crowd. Then as if someone answered his prayers, he caught something in the corner of his eye. He turned to look where he had spotted it and saw someone running down an alley across the street.

"Is something wrong Robin?" Starfire asked, noticing his attention was occupied on something other than her.

"Thought I saw something" he replied. He glanced down the alley one last time to make sure he had seen something, but when he didn't he follow Starfire to another store, she became annoyed and pulled him along. There were once again in front of another small clothing store with little ornaments and hair pieces that would make any outfit look good no matter how out of fashion it was…Robin instantly despised it. Starfire squealed as she flew around and began to try on everything she could get her hands on while Robin was left waiting outside the store with her mountain of bags looking quite helpless.

_Oh please oh please let there have been someone in that alley_ he thought as he continued to glance every so often at the alley. As he was looking back into the store, a beam of light hit him in the eye and he put his hand up to block it. Out of curiosity, he followed the beam of light with his eyes and saw it originated from the alley. Robin saw a glimpse of someone standing against the wall in the alley and his heart began to race. _YES_!

Without bothering to tell Starfire that he was leaving, Robin took off and dodged traffic as he made his way to the alley. Evidently his quarry realized he had been spotted and ran for he was no longer in the alley. But that didn't stop Robin; he guided with faint glimpses of his prey as he ran down alley after alley in an attempt to catch him. Soon he reached a dead end and was at a loss as to where his quarry had gone. "I saw him come down here" Robin said to himself as he checked every possible hiding place "I'm sure of it". After several minutes, He had checked every inch of the alley twice and was still unable to track him. "Could he have climbed the wall…but how?" he mumbled as he felt the face of the wall for any sign of footholds. The thought had occurred to him before but he found it unlikely, the wall was two stories tall and its relatively flat surface made it difficult to climb on.

Just as he was about to give up, he heard something drop behind him. Robin spun around and found a small fragment of cement lying on the ground with a cloud of dust hanging over it. Robin picked up the fragment and found no evidence that it had been chipped off the wall. Then another series of fragments bounced off his head and he instinctively looked up. There, suspending himself off the ground with his arms and legs against the sides of the two buildings; was his quarry. Robin instinctively pulled out his Bo-staff but his quarry descended upon him and wrestled Robin's Bo-staff from his hands. The attacker kicked Robin's feet out from under him and brought his foot down onto Robin's face. Robin quickly caught the attacker's foot just as it was about to squash his face into the dirt and twisted it around so his attacker lost his footing. Robin quickly jumped to his feet and pinned his attacker against the wall by his wrist.

"Why were you running?" Robin demanded as he twisted his attacker's wrist even harder "and why are you attack me"?

The attacker reply was a quick bashing of the heads and smashing Robin into the wall with his elbow before he could even react. The attacker then grabbed Robin by the foot and began tossing him from one end of the alley and rebounding him to the other with almost inhuman agility. The attacker finished the volley with a bone crushing kick that knocked the wind out of Robin and pinned him to the ground. Robin grabbed the attacker's boot that was now crushing the life out of him and tried to force it away. With every attempt, Robin lost more and more of his strength until his vision began to blur. He tried beating against it but this only made his attacker press harder. He only had one option now, call for backup and hope that he would last long enough for them to arrive. He let go of his attacker's boot with one hand and desperately tried to reach his communicator that was hanging loosely on his belt just a few inches away. The attacker cocked his head as if trying to determine what he was up and only continued to increase the pressure that might soon end Robin's life. Robin's finger barely brushed the side of his communicator when it fell of his belt and clattered to the ground. Robin tried to reach for his communicator one last time when his wrist was pinned against the ground by his attacker's iron boot that had only moments ago try to crush the life out of him. The attacker then kicked the communicator far out of Robin's reach, and then did something Robin would have never suspected. He ran. He dashed out of the alley and out into the open sun where he could finally be seen for who he really was.

One man crossed into his mind as his attacker came into full view. A man whom Robin had hunted across the city for two years and had never succeeded in capturing once. A man who had masterminded several daring strikes against Jump city to defeat the Titans once and for all, and he nearly succeeded. His presence in the city could only mean something big was about to happen and very soon. Robin clenched his fist as his mind wrapped around the one name that he hated most.

Slade.


	3. Chapter 2

_Here it is the second exciting chapter in __Teen Titans: Deathstroke__. Now it, its prequel and others to come will be referred to as the "Terraformer Tribulations" series. Enjoy._

Chapter 2

Heist

_Titans Tower…_

"Are you sure it was Slade"?

"No" said Robin "it wasn't Slade, it was one of his drones". Robin got up off the table and slipped his green leather gauntlet back off his hand.

"So that doesn't mean it was Slade" Cyborg argued.

"What do you mean it wasn't Slade, those are _his _robots" Robin replied, greatly annoyed that his friend wasn't believing him.

"He has a point Robin" Raven stepped in "when Slade died, it's possible that someone stumbled upon his technology and started using it for their own benefit".

"NO" Robin shouted and slammed his fist against his medical bed "it was Slade, no one knows how his technology works better than him, end-of-story".

"No its not end-of-story, we need to look into this more before we start moving in on the wrong bad guy" Raven shot back.

"The wrong bad guy?" Robin said in disbelief "Raven, don't you remember, Terra came into contact Slade, he has something planned for her…_that_ means he's back, and he's been back ever since we defeated Trigon".

"It was just a reflection Robin, nothing more than a preprogrammed projection" Cyborg stated, rather annoyed by Robin's persistent "…besides why would he move in now of all times, Terra isn't in the best of shape right now

Robin growled at their stubbornness "All the more reason for Slade to act now".

"Even if he went after her now Robin she wouldn't do him much good, she's kind of losing it" Cyborg countered.

There was a loud bang as Beast Boy slammed his fist against a table "DON'T EVER SAY THAT ABOUT TERRA, EVER!" he shouted at Cyborg.

"Beast Boy, he's just saying Terra isn't herself right now, she' exhausted and very depressed" Raven said, coming to Cyborg's defense before Beast Boy became even angrier. "He didn't mean that she's crazy".

Cyborg, noticing that Terra was nowhere to be found, looked back and forth between his friends before asking "Speaking of Terra, where is the little rock 'n roller".

Beast Boy sighed, regaining his temper, and leaned against the wall "she's still in her room ever since you mention him".

"Dude I said I was sorry, I didn't know she was still so touchy about the subject" Cyborg apologized.

"YES YOU DID!" Beast Boy shouted, losing his temper once again "HAVEN'T YOU NOTICED HOW SHE MOPS AROUND HERE EVERYDAY EVER SINCE TERRAN DIED"?!

"I'm sorry alright" Cyborg repeated, this time with a bit of irritation "I didn't mean to ruin your date sheesh".

"YOU'RE NOT SORRY, YOU MEANT TO DO THAT!" Beast Boy shouted even louder "YOU'RE ALWAYS MAKING SOME COMMENT TO BUG US, AND YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT HER THE WAY I DO AND THAT'S WHY YOU CONTINUE TO MAKE FUN OF US"!

"Well of course not" Raven snapped "she's _your_ girlfriend".

Beast Boy turned on Raven and soon the three of them were bickering as loud as they could. Robin was about to interject and try to get his friends to calm down, when Starfire placed her hand on his shoulder to stop him. He turned to look at his alien friend and saw she had bulged out her chest and now looked much like a puffer fish. He could hear her take in tiny breaths into her already over packed lungs and Robin realized what was coming. He quickly put his fingers into his ears, and ducked for cover beneath the medical table.

_Terra's Room…_

Terra sat quietly on her bed, rocking back and forth with her arms wrapped around her legs. She could hear her friends arguing two floors bellow and it filled her heart with sadness. She was constantly finding herself causing confrontation between her friends, and this made her feel even guiltier about being depressed. There were times she wished she could just get over her depression. But how could she? Her brother, someone whom she held very dear, had died and what made matters worse was the circumstances in how he died. Every time she thought about him she felt as though she would burst into tears, feeling horrible for all the rotten things she had thought about her brother during their time apart. Terra fell back onto her bed and placed her pillow over her head, which was now becoming moist from the tears forming in her eyes. For a moment, everything was quiet and Terra felt she could finally get some rest when…

"**QUIET**"!

Terra leapt into the air at the noise and landed face first on the floor with her pillow following shortly after. She quickly picked herself up off the floor and scanned her room for the source of the thunderous voice. But after several well thought out minutes she realized that it had been Starfire and from the strange silence that had come over the Tower, Terra guessed that Starfire had ended the argument. Terra grabbed her pillow and placed it back at the head of her bed and sat down. Terra was grateful her friends were no longer fighting; it had made her feel a little better. Soon there was a knock at the door; Terra already knew who it was.

"You can come in Garfield" she called.

"You know I prefer 'Beast Boy'" replied a muffled voice. The door slide open and Beast Boy strode inside looking quite glum. She gave him a smile hoping it would cheer him, which it always did, but this time his expression didn't change in the slightest. "I'm guessing you heard what went on downstairs" Beast Boy asked.

"Yeah, it was king of hard not to" Terra replied, faking a few laughs.

Beast Boy sat down next to her and allowed Terra to rest her head on his shoulder. "Don't worry, they don't know what they're talking about" Beast Boy said, trying to reassure her "I mean it's not your fault-"

"Yes it is" Terra said, cutting him off "If I wasn't so emotional, we'd all be fine…"

"Terra, there's nothing wrong with-"

"…But nooooo, I've just been mopping around here for two months, making you guys feel horrible, all because I can't get over Terran dying" Terra continued as if Beast Boy hadn't spoken up. She groaned miserable and buried her head deeper into his shoulder "I'm just so stupid".

"NO YOUR NOT!" Beast Boy shouted angrily. Terra cringed at the tone of his voice, he hadn't sounded this angry at her in a long time. "Terra we understand that you miss him a lot and there's nothing wrong with that" He put his arm around her and rested his head on hers. "But you can still miss him while at the same time going about your life being happy" he continued, his voice sounding much more caring than before.

Terra let out a long sigh "I guess your right".

"Have I ever been wrong"?

"Do you want me to answer that question"?

"Never mind".

Terra and Beast Boy sat there in each others arms quietly until Beast Boy decided to try and talk to back into a good mood.

"Soooo, did you have fun today?" he asked, trying to get her engaged in a conversation that would cheer her up.

"Yeah" she replied with a smile "but I have to ask you something".

"What"?

"Did you start that fight with me just to get my mind off of Terran"?

"Did it work"?

Terra smiled and kissed him on the cheek. Beast Boy wobbled back and forth and collapsed onto the bed unconscious.

Terra rolled her eyes and said between laughs "Oh come on…I know your just faking".

Beast Boy responded with several gurgles and twitching of the hands.

"Beast Boy come on already…Beast Boy"? Terra leaned over Beast Boy and began snapping her fingers next to his ear. She shook him furiously but he still refused to respond. "OH MY GOD, BEAST BOY WAKE UP!" she cried, believing that something serious might have happened to him.

Beast Boy broke his trance and he began roaring with laughter as he rolled around on the bed. "OH MAN TERRA…YOU SHOULD HAVE HEARD YOURSELF HAHAHAHA…YOU WERE SO HILARIOUS"!

Terra folded her arms and pouted. She didn't feel the same way about the situation at all. She thought about her comeback for a minute, but then decided a verbal one wasn't necessary. She pushed him off the side of the bed and he landed with a thud on the carpet. He groaned from the impact and Terra began to laugh. "Your right, that was hilarious".

"That was not hilarious, that hurt" Beast Boy grunted as he clutched his side.

"Come on, I didn't push you that hard".

"Hard enough".

Terra gazed at him with baby eyes and said "Do you want me to kiss it to make it all better"?

Beast Boy glared at her, now he was the one in a sore mood. But as much as he would like to retaliate, he couldn't. Seeing her smiling down at him was all he needed to be happy. But sadly their good moods didn't last long. The Tower's alarms began to sound and Robin's voice echoed throughout the Tower calling everyone to the living room. Beast Boy and Terra looked at each other and sighed. It looked like they would have to postpone their time together, again. Terra helped Beast Boy off the floor and left her room. They headed to the elevator arm in arm, knowing the news Robin had to share meant trouble was afoot. Though they had ridden the elevator many times before this time it seemed to take longer than usually, prolonging whatever the bad news might be and a sigh that their short lived vacation was finally over. They entered the living room, where everyone was waiting for them looking quite grim. Beast Boy and Terra took their seats on the far right of the sofa and waited patiently for Robin to turn away from the screen.

"So what's up?" Beast Boy asked, daring to break his leader's concentration.

Robin turned to his team, his face filled with determination. "He's back".

_Wayne Enterprise_

_Computer Laboratory…_

By the time they reached the computer lab it was nightfall, and they report they had received was nearly an hour old. Though the Titans were concerned that the attackers had already come and gone, the staff assured them that they were still inside.

Robin scaled the large office building with the words "Wayne Enterprise" shining brightly above it. Robin was filled with resentment when he saw the sign bearing his old teacher's name. He didn't know why, the man had taught him so much in his life. In fact if it wasn't for that man, Robin wouldn't be here, leading his team into battle. Perhaps it was the memory of why he had decided to go solo and leave him forever, but he wasn't sure. Nevertheless there was thing Robin did know for sure, he had respect for the man and that would never change.

Pushing this thought aside, Robin entered the air duct located on the roof and slid down until he came to a halt just above a grating leading into a large computer lab below. He braced his back against the cold, slick surface of the air duct and pulled out his communicator.

"Team report in".

"_**This is Cyborg**_" his voice was almost a whisper; Robin had turned down the volume so he would not lose stealth. "_**I'm at the entrance, ready for your signal**_".

There was a soft whimper above Robin and he sighed in disgust. "Will you keep quiet up there Beast Boy?" Robin questioned angrily, but kept his voice low enough so no one below them would hear.

"I'm doing…the best…I can" Beast Boy grunted as his hands made a series of squeaks against the side of the air duck.

"Well just turn into something small".

Beast Boy frowned, not at all pleased that his friend was suggesting something he had not thought of, and transformed into a tiny green mouse and softly landed on Robin's caped shoulder. Robin held up his communicator and called upon the rest of his team to confirm their positions. Raven was hiding beneath the ground in a protective aura, waiting to ambush the enemy. Starfire was stationed just outside the room, waiting to come flying through and shower the area with her star bolts. Robin was about to contact Terra, who was waiting a few dozen meters away, awaiting the signal to come storming into the building with a shower of boulders behind her, when Robin caught himself humming "Hickory Dickory Dock". Robin was surprised that he had slipped up like that, but then he heard the music continuing to his left. He turned to Beast Boy, who was also humming it and nodding his little mouse head to the beat, and gave Robin a cold glare. The mouse Beast Boy instantly fell silent and retreated to the far edge of his shoulder without a peep. Robin sighed and called Terra. She hesitated at first, but then responded with great determination. Robin knew that her hesitation wasn't a good sign, but he couldn't worry about that now.

Robin placed his communicator on his belt, was satisfied with his team's positions, and he and his team counted down to the attack. "10…9…8…7…6…" Robin saw seven drones below pushing a large object towards the rear exit, Robin guessed it was the super computer reported to have been stolen "5…4…3…" he felt his breathing quicken, the adrenaline began to pump through his veins "2…" Robin pulled out a batarang, its red surface shining from the light below. "1"!

He kicked the grating below him and it clashed against the metal floor with Robin following soon afterwards. Beast Boy leapt of his shoulder and morphed into a large T-rex, letting out a tremendous roar. Cyborg burst through the door, aimed his sonic cannon at the drones and fired. Starfire flew through the window, sending broken glass falling to the floor, and showered the room with her star bolts giving everything a bright green glow. Then a dark aura appeared around the super computer, protecting it from Starfire's discriminated attacks, and lifted it towards the ceiling well out of reach of the drones. Boulders crashed through the wall creating a great deal confusion among the drones and Terra came flying in shortly after.

"TITANS GO!" Robin shouted as he leapt at one of the drones. The drones reacted as one and leapt out of the way, one getting its leg caught by a blast from Cyborg, and then scattered to take on each one of the Titans. Robin tossed his batarang into the cranium of the wounded drone, instantly knocking out its neural network, and pulled out his bo-staff and engaged the drone that saw him fit for a target. Robin swung his staff at the drones head but it ducked under it kicked Robin in the side. Robin fell forward slightly but regained his balance and brought his staff around for another hit. His staff connected with the drone's shoulder but it seemed unfazed. The drone then grabbed the staff before Robin had time to pull it back and used it to fling Robin into Raven who had just resurfaced. Robin collided with Raven and they both fell to the ground in a heap. Soon the aura around the super computer vanished and it fell to the floor causing the Titans to stumble around for a moment as the floor shook from impact. But luckily the computer remained intact. The lead drone looked for the rest of its team and found them losing their individual battles with the Titans. The lead drone, seeing that defeat was inevitable, decided it was time to retreat.

The drone quickly dashed for the computer and tapped a few commands into the control panel and an opening appeared in the computer's side. The drone reached inside and felt around for the motherboard through the mess of wires and chips. It found the largest computer chip inside and carefully pulled it from its slot. Suddenly the drone slammed against the side of the computer as Robin wrestled it into a headlock. The drone countered this by tucking its chin to its chest so Robin couldn't get a firm hold onto it and tossed him off. Using the few precious seconds it had, the drone reached back inside the computer and untangled the chip from the mess of cords inside and closed the panel. It then made a dash for the door in an attempt to escape before it lost any chance to make it back to its master. As it came half way to the door, a batarang cut through the air and narrowly missed the drone's head. It looked back to see Robin following in close pursuit, pulling out another batarang. The drone pulled its crescent shaped energy pistol from its belt and fired off several shots to keep Robin from getting any nearer. The first shot missed Robin by a mile, as did the second and third. But the final shot hit the ceiling sending a chunk of it falling onto Robin. Robin's legs were caught under the debris and he didn't have the time to try and free himself, the drone was nearly at the door.

"TERRA!" Robin shouted, seeing that Terra was the closet to the door "STOP HIM"!

"What?" Terra said but was then hit in the side of the face. The drone she was fighting flung itself on top of her, but was then crushed into a thousand pieces as Terra smashed it into a wall with a boulder. Terra quickly jumped to her feet and summoned a stone platform to carry her to the doorway. She skimmed across the ground and was soon on top of the drone and raised her arms, preparing to attack. The drone looked up at her and fired its pistol wildly. Terra ducked behind her platform and several blasts cut holes in the front of the platform and she veered right. The drone then turned back to the doorway and fired its pistol at the door panel on the other side. The panel sparked and crackled as its circuits were fried and the door began to close. The drone leapt through the door, barreled role across the ground and leapt upright, and proceeded down the hallway. Terra straightened her platform and used it to propel herself forward before the door closed. She sailed through the doorway just as it closed and landed on her side, bruising her leg slightly, and got back to her feet and followed the drone.

The hallway lights were off giving the drone almost unlimited places to hide. Terra proceeded carefully down the hallway, making sure to brush her hand against any dark corner, and soon came to a three way cross-section. She looked down the right hallway and saw it curved back into the building. The drone obviously wouldn't have taken that route. She looked down the left hallway and saw that it stretched for another twenty yards before it ended at a doorway. If the drone was anywhere, it would be down there. Terra headed left but felt as though someone was watching her. She quickly swung her body around so she faced backwards but saw no one. She stepped forward but stopped when she heard a small ping behind her. She turned back around to see the drone facing her, a frozen stare on its face. The drone turned to run but Terra grabbed its leg and they both fell to the floor and the computer chip it had stolen slid across the floor. The drone quickly kicked its legs, one of them connected with Terra's stomach, and leapt to its feet. Terra wheezed from the pain but she wasn't about to let it get away. She brought her hand forward and sent a wave of stone crashing through the floor and hit the drone across its left eye. The drone staggered backwards, clutching its eye and fell against the wall and slid to the ground.

Terra got to her feet and readied to strike, when the drone removed its hand from its face. Terra quickly stopped and stared in disbelief at what she saw. In the past Slade's drones were created with wires and chips, and the eyes were merely light bulbs shining outward to give the impression that someone was underneath the mask; only this time there was someone beneath the mask. A hazel blue eye stared back at her through a jagged hole in its mask, its stare devoid of emotion. She stepped closer; something was caught in the crack that had formed just above the eye. The drone flinched as Terra's hand brushed the crack but did it not retreat. As she touched it, the crack widened a piece of the mask broke off. A strand of blond hair fell from the crack and hung in front of the drone's eye. The color matched Terra's own hair, and a feeling of grief and joy struck her.

"Terran…" the words barely escaped from her mouth.

There was no response from him; he only sat there looking at her very perplexed. They sat there silently, gazing into one another. Terra felt his hand clasp hers and she felt a tear form in her eye. He wasn't dead, he was still alive. She immediately bent forward to hug him and locked him in an embrace he did not return.

"I missed you so much" she sobbed as she squeezed him tighter. Terran twisted around, trying to break free of her embrace. Terra didn't realize it, but he was frightened. No matter how he struggled, Terra refused to let him go, she wasn't going to lose him a second time. Finally Terran wiggled his arm free and gripped Terra's hand, first as gesture and stared deep into her eyes. She stared back into his, and was about to collapse onto him and cry. But then her reality was shattered as he suddenly began to crush her hand and Terra furiously tried to pull away. She screamed in pain and began hitting Terran across the arm.

"TERRAN STOP ITS ME!" she screamed but he didn't respond. Terran kicked Terra in the ribs and tossed her aside and ran for the door. He ducked down and grabbed the chip as he passed it and kicked the door down all in one swift motion. He ran through and jumped into the air with his fist outstretched. There was a wave of heat and a series of rocket engines ignited on the bottom of his boots and blasted him into the night sky. Terra quickly limped outside in the hopes that she might catch him. She saw Terran, her brother whom she had thought dead and had missed dearly, disappear into the distance. She collapsed against the door, holding her swelling hand, saddened that he didn't even say goodbye. The thought that he was now working for Slade filled her with grief and she fell to her knees and began to cry.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Aggravating

Adolescences

"You failed me apprentice."

Slade paced around his dimly lit office, his metal boots clicking against the metallic floor with every step. He circled around his apprentice impatiently; Slade was very displeased with him. Slade was twiddled a computer chip between his fingers, gracefully passing it from one finger to the next

"You lost stealth, your objective was discovered and you were ambushed." Slade stopped and bent forwards so his mask was only a few inches from his apprentice's face. "I ordered you to retrieve the supercomputer," he said, his voice cold and unfeeling. "And what did you bring me?" Slade tossed the computer chip onto his desk and it rebounded off its wooden surface and fell onto a stack of papers. "_This_" Slade hissed causing his apprentice to flinch. Slade stepped away from his apprentice and leaned against his desk as he let out an annoyed sigh. "Tell me…what am I supposed to do with this single computer chip?"

His apprentice didn't respond he merely hung his head in defeat.

"That's right" Slade said as a sneer spread beneath his mask "_nothing_." Slade stepped away from his desk and picked the chip back up and began to twiddle it in-between fingers again. "Now because I've spent too much of my time on you just to give up on you so easily, I'm going to give you another chance." He tapped a button on a lone remote on the far edge of his desk and the screen behind him turned to static. An image of the city materialized onto the screen displaying schematics of the computer and shipping dates. "Tomorrow…you will go out and retrieve the computer, and this time…do it right."

His apprentice nodded, continuing to remain silent.

Slade looked upon his apprentice with satisfaction and reached into one of the six draws in his desk.

"Good…" Slade said, pleased that his apprentice understood that he was not going to tolerate another failure. Slade pulled out a steel mask from his draw, identical to the one his apprentice wore, and handed it to him. "And try not to break this one" Slade said with no hint of it being a joke.

His apprentice nodded and replaced his broken mask with the new one, hiding his face as he did. Slade nodded in approval and sat down in his leather chair and spun it around so he was facing the monitor behind him.

"Leave me" he said and waved his hand "I'm expecting a call from a more…_competent _apprentice shortly."

His apprentice nodded and left the room without a word, allowing his master to be alone in his office. Slade leaned back in his chair, making himself comfortable, and tapped another button on his remote to display the time. It was almost midnight; his other apprentice would be calling any second. The timer read 11:59:55, just five short seconds left. Four, three, two…

_Jump City_

_Pizza Parlor…_

"Alright I'm off Joe!" a brown haired waitress called.

Her manager grunted a reply and she gave him a perky smile as she left to try and cheer him up. The smile was more out of fear for being held later than anything else. She rounded the corner and headed down the stairs continuing to wear the smile as though it was plastered onto her face. She quickened her pace as she came to the street corner. When she saw no one was around she let out a sigh of relief. Her hair instantly changed from a dark brown to a long dazzling red and her eyes changed to back to their natural brown color. Her several earrings vanished and she began to brush out her hair that had tangled during the day while she began to lose a few inches off her height.

"I am _never_ going into fast-food" she snarled as her miniature comb became tangled in her hair.

She pulled with unnecessary force and her comb snapped free taking a few locks of hair with it. She moaned as she saw her locks of hair dangling from her comb and she dug into her pocket for her mirror so she could see if it had done any noticeable damage. For a girl who dressed rather poorly, she was rather particular with how she looked at any given moment. Her hand brushed a small round object and her heart skipped a beat. She had almost forgotten to call. She quickly pulled it out; its dull gunmetal plating was almost invisible in the night. The only discernable feature on the object was the long sinister 'S' it bore on its cover. She flipped it open and it immediately began sending a signal. Almost instantly the screen was filled by an image of a man covered in shadows.

"Hello my dear..." the man said calmly, his hands clasped together "a little early aren't we".

"Like one second," the girl replied irritably "either way I called didn't I?"

The man let out an audible sigh of disappointment "Never jump the gun…timing is everything, if you ignore it you could get you killed."

The girl rolled her eyes and placed her free hand on her hip "Oh gee a simple phone call to dear 'ol Slade a second early," she then placed her hand on her hand and rocked back and forth "Why…I'm already starting to feel faint."

Slade tapped his fingers against one another; his patience with his other apprentice was wearing thin "Sarcasm will only get you into trouble my dear Mindcheat, I would have expected better from you by now."

Mindcheat, as she was called, rolled her eyes and answered rudely "Yeah well you ain't no picnic either."

"Indeed." He leaned forward in his chair and stared deep into her eyes "But enough of this, have you gotten a decent recon report?"

"Yeah same as usually: going out for pizza, hanging with friends, going on dates…nothing special."

"Then they are relaxed?"

"Very," Mindcheat replied, a hint satisfaction her voice.

A siren began to sound down the street and Mindcheat quickly ducked into an alley incase anyone had gotten suspicious of her. After all a teenaged girl standing in the middle of the sidewalk at the dead of night was pretty unusual and called for investigation. After several minutes Mindcheat poked her head and out scanned the street to make sure it was safe to come out. Mindcheat brushed a strand of red hair behind her ear and returned her attention to her communicator.

"Sorry about that, I thought someone was coming," her apologize, continuing to keep a look out for anyone who might decide to come down her way "Now am I done playing diner dash?"

"But my dear, I thought you liked running around in an old apron while slipping on random pools of grease" said Slade, a hint of humor in his voice.

Mindcheat huffed in annoyance and prodded her finger at her communicator as if trying to squash Slade's head "Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep that shroud around me while there are dozens of people looking at me at the same time…its exhausting".

"Indeed," said Slade, knowing that what she said was the true "your powers are impressive but…underdeveloped, tricking the human mind, let alone many, can be quite an ordeal."

Mindcheat let out a sigh of relief; at least he understood that she could only press her powers so far. Mindcheat wasn't an ordinary shape shifter; in fact she wasn't a shape shifter at all. Instead her powers could manipulate the human mind into thinking she was someone else or nothing entirely. But like Slade had stated, her powers weren't fully developed, there was only so much she could do with them now, but Slade had told her that with training that there were unlimited possibilities she could achieve. Sadly for her, he had yet to follow up on that offer.

"Do they know?"

Mindcheat stared at her master with a perplexed look "What do you mean they don't know, I don't even know."

From the way Slade tilted back in his chair gave Mindcheat the impression he was smiling. He picked up what looked to be a computer chip and began looking it over with great interest "Good, then everything is going according to plan."

Mindcheat sighed, annoyed she had no idea what he was talking about, and began tapping her hiking boot against the ground. "When are you going to tell me where all this leads?"

Slade chuckled to himself. "You're a smart girl, I'm sure you'll figure it out."

Mindcheat rolled her eyes. She was tired of going in circles when it came to Slade's plan. Obviously it was a very delicately laid plan that he didn't want just anyone to know, even if it meant that those who would be executing it would be kept in the dark. Instead of trying to pry even further she decided to change the subject to try and get him off guard for later interrogation. "So what do I do now…more _recon_?"

Slade put the computer chip down on his desk and turned his attention back to her. "I suppose you earned a night off, I'll expect you back here by tomorrow afternoon." Slade disappeared and with that the transmission ended leaving Mindcheat was left alone on the street corner.

Mindcheat sighed irritably and placed her communicator back into her pocket. As soon as her hand entered the pocket split open at the bottom and her communicator fell to the ground with a clang and her hand brushed against her exposed leg.

"And these were my favorite pants" She groaned as she picked up her communicator. She placed the communicator back into her other pant pocket, making sure it didn't split open before doing so, and began to walk down the street towards the mall. She hoped to find clothes there to replace the torn ones she was wearing, if only she had the money. As she walked an idea formed itself inside her head. One that swung her mood from annoyed to one of great pleasure.

"There's a thought," she said to herself, a smile spreading across her soft, delicate face "Maybe there's someone there who won't mind me being them for awhile?"

_Titans Tower_

_5:00 Am…_

"So we know what he's hit, now we just need to know where he's going to hit next."

Robin cycled through possible targets that Slade might attack next but none seemed to match what he had gone for the night before. He and Cyborg had stayed up all night trying to learn what Slade's motives were for trying to steal the computer. They had searched every database they could find trying to get information on what the computer was built for, or what it contained. So far they had ended up empty handed.

"Did you talk to Terra at all?" Cyborg asked, recalling that Terra had acted strangely after their battle with the drones. He tapped a few commands on his arm as he tried searching through his own selection of databases. His luck wasn't any better than Robin's.

"She didn't say much," Robin replied. He thumbed the mouse and the screen cycled to the next page. "Her story was kind of blunt."

"Want me to call her in?"

Robin let out a heavy sigh. "No let her sleep, as well as the rest of the team."

Robin felt Cyborg's hand on his shoulder and he looked up to his long time mechanical friend.

"You should get some rest to; it's been a long night."

Robin nodded in agreement and got up from his chair and headed to the door. His arms hung at his sides and he barely had the strength to walk up the steps.

"I'll let you know if anything comes up." Cyborg called; reassuring Robin he had everything under control.

Robin merely waved in reply and the door silently closed behind him. He made his slowly way to the end of the hallway and hit the button to call the elevator. He closed his eyes as he waited for the elevator to arrive, he was exhausted. It wasn't until now that the fact donned on him that his time of relaxation was over, and he was sad to see it go. Even though he enjoyed the thrill of the chase, he enjoyed time with his friends even more. This fact only dampened his spirits even more causing him to feel even more exhausted.

There was a small chime as the elevator came to a stop and Robin instinctively backed away from the door. The door opened and he found that someone was already inside the elevator. Terra stared blankly at Robin from within the elevator looking quite surprised to see him. There were dark circles under her eyes and her small shoulders were sagging. She hadn't had any sleep either.

"What are you doing up?" Robin asked, curious as to why she was wondering around the Tower so early.

"I could ask you the same thing" Terra replied, trying to get Robin to drop the subject. She backed up to the end of the elevator trying to put as much distance between herself and Robin.

"I asked you first" Robin countered. The elevator door closed and they began to ascend to the lower levels.

Terra racked her fingers along the side of the elevator and the sound reverberated off the walls. A strand of blond hair hung over her eyes but she didn't bother to brush it away. "Couldn't get to sleep, so I decided just to take a stroll" she answered in a hazed voice.

"I couldn't sleep either."

Robin and Terra stood quietly inside the elevator, listening to the sounds of the steel cables pulling them up. Robin noticed Terra looked saddened and he placed his hand on her shoulder comfortingly and said "You should get some rest; it might be easier to recall what happened last night."

"I already told you nothing important happened," she replied defiantly "I went after the drone, it attacked me and got away…that's it."

She brushed his hand off and stared at the wall so she wouldn't have to look at him. She feared if she made eye contact with Robin that he would see right through her.

Robin nodded. "Alright if you say so, either way you should get some rest."

There was a chime and the door slid open revealing the hallway that lead to Terra's room.

"Sleep in as much as you like," Robin said and helped Terra out of the elevator "we'll let you know if anything comes up."

Terra paused for a moment. She turned back to Robin; she had a worried look in her eyes. Robin could tell that she would prefer if he didn't investigate. "Sure, thanks."

Her words seemed hollow and Robin could tell she was hiding something. Whatever she had found had really frightened her and she was doing whatever she could to keep them from finding out. Whatever it was he hoped she would tell them before they learned of it themselves. And it they did, it might be too late.

_Slade's Lair_

_6:29 PM…_

The sounds of metal boots clicking against a metallic floor could be heard echoing down the hallway. Slade turned left and headed down yet another corridor in the seemingly endless maze that was his base. After several strides he came to a large, unmarked door. His ears, even beneath his mask, picked up mumbling from instead and he pressed his hand against the door.

The door silently slid open but Slade did not immediately enter. Mindcheat was busily staring at herself in a full sized mirror, one that she had acquired recently, while holding up various clothing to her body to see how she would look like in them. The outfits ranged from jeans, cargo pants, sweaters, tang tops, T-shirts, scarves and other various clothing that any teenaged girl would like. None of them seemed to satisfy her. She held a green T-shirt over her red shirt and pulled her hair back with one hand. Her hair changed to a dirty yellow but she still didn't seem pleased with how she looked.

Slade was disappointed at her error. He knew that the hair change was supposed to only be seen by her but Mindcheat's lack of control sent it to anyone in the nearby vicinity; he would have to do something about that later.

Her hair changed back to its natural red and she lazily tossed the shirt onto the piles of other clothes that littered her room. She bent down to pick out another outfit to try on, her shirt lifting up slightly exposing her back, and began mumbling to herself on what combination to try next.

"I see we did a little shopping while we were out."

Mindcheat spun around to see Slade standing in her doorway. Her face turned red as she dropped everything that she was holding and her eyes began darting around the room. "Slade…I uh…I…um…" she stuttered as she began fidgeting "Well…DIDN'T ANYONE EVER TELL YOU IT WAS RUDE TO ENTER WITHOUT KNOCKING!"

"It's my home," Slade replied, his voice remaining calm even as his apprentice continued to show disrespect "I don't have to."

Mindcheat glared at her master and kept her comments to herself. She pulled down the part of her shirt that had lifted up and leaned against the wall with her arms folded.

_Good_ Slade thought. _At least she has some self-control_.

Slade turned back to the hallway and motioned for Mindcheat to follow him. She followed, making sure to drag her feet the entire way to show her defiance and soon she and Slade where inside a large open room.

"Come, sit down my dear" Slade said. He motioned towards a wooden chair in the center of the room. It looked old and worn but Mindcheat didn't dare complain over such a minor detail.

_Don't call me 'dear'_ Mindcheat thought angrily. She sat down in the chair, its legs groaning from the weight but held. She slumped back in her chair and folded her arms and pursed her lips. "So what's the big deal?"

Slade gave her a cold stare from the corner of his eye and tapped a button on his wrist. There was a hiss of static and a large monitor came to life a few yards in front of them, bathing the room in light. "Why, the show's about to being, and I didn't want you to miss all the fun."

* * *

_Special Thanks to M.C. Castle for the creation of Mindcheat._


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Conflictions

"_**Ok Bravo 1 you're cleared for departure**_."

"_**Roger that, we're making our exit**_."

The smell of gasoline hung in the air as gas pipes were removed from an armored transport. The transport roared as its twin horsepower engines sprang to life. The transport was a dull gray color and looked like a long caterpillar that had swallowed a cardboard box. A few engineers finished bolting the cargo compartment on the side of the transport and gave the driver a thumbs up.

The transport accelerated out of the garage and turned onto the exit ramp that would lead them back to them through an abandoned neighborhood and into the heart of Jump City. Two bulky Humeves with jet black paint speed out of the garage after the transport. One took up a position three car lengths behind the transport. The other pulled ahead of the transport and took up a position in from of it.

Moments later a woman in a black and white police uniform lifted herself body out of the roof of the rear Humeve and slung the strap of her energy rifle around her shoulder. She flipped the safety on incase she was spooked and by accidentally fired at into the roof of her vehicle. A few second after that, a man, who was also dressed in a police uniform, lifted himself body out of the Humeve positioned at the rear of the formation and manned a long barreled particle cannon that was recently fitted onto his car.

The particle cannon, bearing a large resemblance to an old 50 caliber machine gun, was the newest addition to the law enforcement arsenal's and operated much like the energy rifles were standard issue in the United States military and law enforcement. But those weapons cost thousands of dollars per rifle, not to mention the cost of the ammunition they took, and ate through their chemical power cells like acid through paper. The biggest draw back to the standard energy weapons was that when they fired a round it would overheat the gun and possible melt it from within. So the original design was scratched and now they fired super cooled energy rounds, which acted basically like glowing metal slugs.

The particle cannon would be the first of a new generation of energy based weapons that were supposed to not only give the operator unimaginable accuracy at a high rate of fire but recycling the excess energy, giving the user an almost unlimited supply of ammunition, not to mention saving millions of dollars on ammunition.

This weapon harnessed the power of light, literally. It would capture energy from the sun, or any other light source, and compress it inside a small vacuum chamber. Once it had reached critical capacity the weapon would fire it out the barrel at the speed of light. At first there were problems with the barrel overheating, like its predecessors, but an addition to the weapon was added that would revolutionize energy based weapons, if it worked. A chemical would be introduced into the chamber so that when the gun fired the blast would give off a coolant in the form of a gas in its wake that would equalize the temperature along the barrel.

Needless to say the man couldn't wait to try out his new weapon even if this was its Maiden Voyage. He waved at the drivers of the transport, both of whom were looking nervously at the particle cannon from their side mirrors, to assure them they were in good hands. If someone was to meet him for the first time, they'd notice he had a partiality for weapons, a very discomforting notion.

The officer tapped the side of his helmet and his ears were filled with the sound of static. "So what's in the truck anyways?" he said over the radio.

The officer heard a grunt from his commander over the radio. "_**That's none of your business Hudson, now man that blasted gun before I come over there and give you a reason to other than protecting that transport**_!"

His commander was the stereotypical army sergeant in ever conceivable way. He was cleanly shaving, his left cheek bearing a few scars from his career in the army, which might explain his army sergeant attitude, and had no toleration for wise guys or anyone from Wisconsin. Unfortunately for Hudson, he was both.

Hudson leaned against the roof of the car and rolled his eyes as his commander droned on about keeping a lookout and the importance of the mission they were undertaking and other useless crap. Hudson was glad his red bubble visor hid his face from view, or his commander would have had his head on a spike for all the times he rolled his eyes or made ill-mannered faces at him. It gave him a way to vent his emotions without anyone knowing.

"_**DID YOU ROLL YOUR EYES AT ME SON**_?"

Or so he thought.

"Uh no sir, not at all sir," Hudson quickly responded. He grabbed the handles on the cannon and looked down the sights.

"_**Good, that's what I like about you Hudson, always on task.**_"

"Yeah…thanks commander." Hudson wiped a bead of sweat from his brow, a difficult task considering he was still wearing his helmet, and continued to scan the road for signs of trouble. The convoy reached the outer edge of Jump City and the road began to fork up ahead. Hudson eyed his gun with passion and rubbed his faceplate against the barrel of his particle cannon while running his hand down it. "Oh yeah, this one's gonna kick some-"

"_**Don't swear Hudson**_," came the voice of Hudson's driver over the com, Christian. "_**You're not good at it**_."

"Yeah says you," Hudson replied.

"_**That's right says me**_."

Christian and Hudson were always paired together on the squad. Though they got on each others nerves more often than not, they were best friends and no matter what they had each other's back.

"_**Would you two knock it off**_?"

"_**Victoria you're not in this**_!" Christian shot back.

Victoria was the only female member on their squad and one the best marksman in the academy. She could hit a soda can from two hundred meters away with one shot from a horrible inaccurate law enforcement energy pistol. The only reason why she wasn't the one manning the new particle cannon was that she had an uncanny ability of breaking new and expensive equipment without even trying. Sometimes equipment that was supposed to be 'unbreakable'. She went through about three energy rifles and roughly five energy pistols week, not counting her bad days. Christian always teased her that if they were to kick her out of law enforcement it would cut the defense budget by half. Obviously the two didn't get along very well and Hudson had a hard time choosing sides. So he usually stayed out of their confrontations.

"_**Well I am now**_," she snapped.

She turned around in her turret so she was facing the Humeve in the rear. Hudson merely shook his head and gave her the signal to ignore him. She nodded and gave him short wave and returned to scanning the road for signs of trouble, making sure to check every darkening corner twice as the outskirts of Jump City became closer.

Hudson felt his leg being tapped and he ducked down into the interior and his vehicle. The Humeve swerved to the left as they turned onto another lane so they didn't by accidentally take the turn off.

"What do you want?" said Hudson.

Christian depolarized his faceplate so Hudson could see his smiling face. He was grinning from ear to ear. "_**Have you asked her yet**_?"

Hudson cocked his head. "What?"

Christian motioned towards the lead Humeve and Hudson quickly realized who he was referring to.

"Why are you asking me this now, we're on a mission!" Hudson griped.

"_**Well have you**_?"

"No not yet."

"_**Well you better hurry up, she won't stay open forever**_?"

"SHUT UP!"

"_**Who are you guys talking about**_?"

Hudson and Christian instantly snapped their attention to the lead Humeve where Victoria was looking back at them with her energy rifle slung around her shoulder. They had forgotten to secure their com link.

Hudson and Christian looked to each other, then back to Victoria. Christian re-polarized his faceplate so Victoria couldn't seem him.

"No one," they said in unison.

Victoria gave them both a suspicious look and returned to her duty.

Hudson slapped Christian on the head causing their Humeve to make a quick honk. "You idiot, you almost blew-"

Before Hudson could finish his sentence an explosion rocked the Humeve and sent it swerving off to the left while the rest of the convoy went right. Hudson smacked his head on the roof and fell into the backseat while Christian fought to steady the car.

"JESUS WHAT WAS THAT!" Hudson shouted, while rubbing his cracked helmet.

Christian merely gave him a shrug and Hudson climbed back up to his turret. He looked back to the road they had just come off of and saw a large blast crater still fuming in the center of the road. The Humeve repositioned itself on the right side of the road and continued down the abandoned street.

"_**Commander, come in commander**_," Christian called over the radio. "_**Are you alright**_?"

"_**We're fine**_," the commander replied. "_**The only problem is we're under attack**_."

The men in the Humeve could hear the faint whines of discharging energy weapons a few streets down. The commander sounded unusually calm for someone coming under fire, but then again the commander usually was calm about anything.

Hudson continued to scan the street as Christian tried to lay out a plan with their commander. "_**Commander we need to link back up**_."

"_**Ya think!**_" cried Victoria.

Christian ignored her.

"_**Agreed**_," said the commander. "_**I've already plotted a course that should link us back up, head to the following coordinates**_."

The onboard computer inside the Humeve snapped to life and began plotting a course to the coordinates the commander had provided.

"_**Roger that, we'll be there within a few minutes**_," replied Christian.

"Uh Chris," said Hudson.

"_**What**_?"

Hudson swiveled his particle cannon on its stand so that it was facing the silhouette of a man standing on top of a roof down the street. "WE GOT COMPANY!"

The man on top of the building fired a stream of red energy projectiles at the Humeve and missed Hudson's head by a few inches. Hudson fired the particle cannon, sending a burst of blue and red energy at the man. The man attempted to dodge but was to late and his body was shattered by the blast. The Humeve swerved left and Hudson was showered by a hail of robotic parts. Well there was one good thing: the cannon worked.

_They're robots_? Hudson thought in surprise. He shoved an arm that had fallen onto the Humeve off the roof and held on tightly as Christian made a tight turn around the corner.

As they rounded the corner, a dozen drones dropped onto the road and began firing streams of energy at the Humeve. Christian swerved right and left, trying to avoid a direct hit, and ran over three of the drones as he sped the car up to fifty miles per hour. Hudson swung around in the turret and picked off the remaining drones with his cannon. Each one he hit was blasted into a shower of loose mechanical parts, turning a few feet of street into a miniature junkyard.

Christian made a sharp right turn, lifting the Humeve off two of its wheels for a moment, and sped down another street. Two dozen drones fired their weapons from rooftops on either side of the Humeve, causing it to nearly crash into the old apartments lining the street as it continued to avoid being hit. Hudson ducked into the Humeve before one drones hit him then jumped back up and swept the rooftops with a continuous burst of plasma. The drones were instantly vaporized by the blast, but several gutters and chimneys caved in as a result of the indiscriminant firing.

"_**Alright we're almost there**_!" Christian shouted over the radio.

"Good," Hudson replied, relieved that their battle was almost over.

"_**Don't worry; I'll get you back to your girlfriend**_!"

The mention of her name caused Hudson's thoughts to turn to Victoria for a moment. He imagined them walking through a field hand in hand talking and laughing as they went. They stopped by a lake and turned to each other, her hair flowing the gently in the breeze.

His daydream ended abruptly as a stream of red stream of energy struck the side of the Humeve and cut the front axel in two. The front bumper of the Humeve slammed into the road sending sparks across the hood and Christian battled the broken vehicle for control.

"_**DUDE THAT ONE WAS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU**_!" Christian shouted.

Hudson quickly turned and fired on the drone but it escaped down an alley. The Humeve began to pick up speed and Christian was finding it harder to control the runaway vehicle. Hudson tried to steady himself in the turret but Christian's erratic driving was making it increasingly difficult.

"_**Christian come in, we're almost at the rendezvous point**_." said the commander of the radio. His voice was extremely garbled; the radio had been damaged by the hit.

Christian knew that the vehicle was lost and slammed the brakes on the Humeve trying to force it to come to a stop. There was no change in speed, when the axel was hit it also cut through the tank holding the braking fluid which was now spilling out across the street. Christian looked on in horror as he realized the rendezvous point was the intersection speeding towards them. They were going to collide head on with the rest of the convoy.

"_**Commander**_," Christian shouted. "_**Stop the convoy, I repeat stop the convoy**_!"

"_**WHAT**_!" the commander shouted.

Apparently the damage done to their radio was affecting any outgoing transmissions as well. Christian and Hudson could hear discharging energy weapons coming closer and knew that the commander was having a hard time hearing them over the background noise.

"_**Stop the convoy**_!"

"_**STOP THE WHAT-**_!"

A set of headlights illuminated the street as the transport neared the intersection.

"_**STOP THE CONVOY**_," Christian screamed, tears were now pouring down his face. "_**STOP THE DAMN CONVOY WE'RE GOING TO CRA-**_!"

Hudson was flung from the turret as the crippled Humeve slammed into the cab of the transport. Hudson slammed into a light pole and fell to the ground. His vision began to darken but struggled to stay awake. His body felt as though to was beaten by a sledge hammer and hundred times over. The only thing that saved him was his combat armor which was now damaged beyond repair. It had cracks lining the length of it and had burn marks crisscrossing his shoulders and chest.

Hudson rolled his head to the side to see what had become of his Humeve. Its front end was imbedded into the side of the transport and Hudson noticed that the second Humeve had crashed into the rear end of the transport. There was no sign of any of the drivers and the vehicles were engulfed in a magnificent orange flame that rose up to the sky. Hudson wondered if they were still trapped inside, alive and unable to get out. His question was answered as a secondary explosion as the particle cannon ignited the half of the convoy in a blue and red flame. The two flames mixed together, illuminating the street in a majestic spectrum of colors.

There was a sparkle in the corner of Hudson's eye and he turned to it. Victoria was laying just a few feet away from him, her helmet was cracked and now revealed her delicate face that he so adored. Hudson wanted to reach out to her but found he didn't have the strength. He let out a small grunt but she didn't respond, nor would she ever.

A set of footsteps approached him from behind and Hudson barely had the strength to turn to it. One of the drones towered over him, glaring down at him menacingly. It held two crescent moon shaped energy pistols in both hands and seemed to stand much straighter than the others. Hudson squinted for a clearer view and noticed two hazel blue eyes staring down at him from beneath the mask, both looked empty and devoid of life. Hudson tried to call out to him but the words were lost in his throat. For the last seconds of his consciousness, Hudson saw the drone before lift his foot above his face and bring it down on his face.

The drone looked over Hudson with a sense of wonder. This man had looked at the girl in a way he did not recognize. He was perplexed by the look of…affection. The drone brushed these thoughts aside kicked him in the ribs to make sure he didn't get back up. The drone left him, satisfied that he'd be of no further trouble, and ordered the other drones to open the transport. It was inside the transport where the supercomputer they had been sent to fetch lay. Then the lead drone placed its hand to where its ear might have been and relayed the message that the computer was ready to be picked up. Only moments later a tiny silver pickup truck screeched to a halt just to the left of the transport where the supercomputer was being hauled out of a newly formed hole in the side of the transport.

The lead drone stepped over to the pick up examined the condition of the computer. Aside from a few scratches on the surface of the computer, it was in perfect condition considering the battle it had just experienced. Slade would be pleased with him. He would prove with this victory that he could become more than just Slade's apprentice, but his successor.

The drone ran his hand across the sleek surface of the computer. It towered over him, the fire and moonlight giving it the looked of a man-made crystal. The drone's hand hit one of the scratches and suddenly snapped his hand back as if the computer had bit him. The drone saw a blur to his right and looked to see what had attacked him. Imbedded into the asphalt was a hooked red and yellow device, one that the drone recognized immediately.

There was a piercing whistle behind the drone and he quickly spun around while pulling out his energy pistols and fired. Two loud thumps echoed as the two blasts from the energy pistols connected with two exploding disks in midair. As the dust began to clear, the lead drone could barely make out single silhouette standing on a rooftop several meters away. The drone's eyes narrowed in anger as the silhouette became clearer though the smoke.

The drone raised his arm to fire but a much larger robotic arm snatched his in its iron grip. He was then thrust to the side and dropped his other pistol. The arm was far bulkier than his and was laden with blue and white mechanical gears and computer chips.

"Don't even think about," said Cyborg as he squeezed the drone's arm tighter.

The drone turned to face Cyborg but halted when he saw the rest of the Teen Titans coming up behind him. The drone and his team were surrounded.

"What should we do with this one Robin?" Cyborg asked.

Robin leapt off the roof of the building he was perched on and met up with the rest of the Titans. "We'll take this one with us, from the way he was giving orders to the others makes him the leader."

"Which is odd," Raven stated as she surveyed the area for any remaining enemies they had not already disposed of. "Slade's drones never showed any sign of leadership before."

"Maybe they're a new model?" Cyborg put in.

As the Titans conversed amongst themselves over the new dilemma of the drones' behavior, the lead drone scanned the area for the rest of his team. He saw motion in the corner of his eye and instinctively looked to it. He saw two of his drones huddled around the pickup waiting for his orders.

The lead drone nodded and the pickup roared to life as the drones started it. The Titans simultaneous turned to the sound, temporarily forgetting about their captured drone. The drone jabbed Cyborg in the gut and swept his feet out from under him, knocking him to the ground and grabbed his fallen weapon. The lead drone wretched his arm free and leapt into the air, rebounded off of Robin's shoulders and landed in the back of the pickup. The drone banged his fist against the rear windshield, the signal to go, and the pickup sped off down the street.

"Terra," Robin pointed towards the pickup. "Stop them!"

The earth mover quickly raised her glowing hands in the direction of the pickup. A wall of stone broke through the asphalt and blocked the street off. The pickup screeched as the driver slammed on the brakes and quickly pulled a 180 before it crashed into the wall.

"Leaving so soon?" Raven said in her usual monotone voice. Only this time she added a hint of a challenge to it. A black aura in the shape of a raven's claw leapt from the ground and the pickup barely escaped its grasp.

The lead drone leapt out of the back of the pickup and soared into the air. He drew his two pistols and they began to glow with yellow energy. He swung both arms diagonally and squeezed the triggers. Instead of firing in a straight line the beams cut through the air, one bisecting the other so that they sped forward in the shape of a deadly X.

Raven quickly put a shield around her and her friends and the attack harmlessly dissipated against the shield and only the tips of the beams engraved themselves in the surrounding area.

Raven quickly let the shield down so they could see past it. As she did she was almost ran over as the pickup quickly sped through the gap. There was a rush of air as Terra flew over Raven head in pursuit of the pickup. Her pursuit was cut short as the lead drone landed directly between the Titans and the pickup.

The drone twirled his pistols in his hand and began lashing out at the Titans with them. Waves of yellow energy cut through the air and the Titans were forced to take cover behind anything they could find.

Robin pressed his back against the brick wall of a building for cover. He poked his head out and barely ducked in time to miss a blast of yellow energy. He knew that this was only a delaying action but could they do? They were pinned down and if they made themselves visible for even a moment they'd torn to shreds.

Just then a light bulb went off in Robin's head. They didn't have to make themselves visible to bring the drone down.

Robin pulled out his communicator and flipped it open. "Terra, come in Terra."

A few seconds later Terra's imaged appeared on the screen. She had her arms over her head and was taking cover behind a quickly disappearing BMW.

"Terra, I need to hit him from below."

Terra looked confused. "_**What do you mean**_?"

"Sweep him off his feet."

It took a full three seconds for Terra to understand. When she did a smile spread across her face. "_**You got it**_."

Robin looked to Terra's position across the street. Terra was lying on her stomach for cover. The remains of the BMW barely rose above her head. Before she lost the last bit of her cover, she made a quick motion with her hand and the firing instantly stopped.

Robin dashed from his cover and ran straight for the drone. The drone was in mid-fall and both of his arms were out to his side. The drone instantly saw Robin as soon as he left cover and was now aiming in his direction. The sights lined up on Robin's head and the drone pulled the trigger. Robin ducked and the blast shot over his head, clipping his hair slightly. The drone seamlessly followed Robin's movement and slowly began to squeeze the trigger. Robin was flat on his stomach and had no time to roll out of the way.

Just then a football sized stone flew out of nowhere and knocked the drones aim off and the shot fired a few feet above Robin's head. Terra flew in on a stone platform and was readying another strike when the drone fired with his other pistol and shattered the platform. She tumbled off and unintentionally body slammed him.

They rolled across the ground until the drone finally eased his legs under Terra and kicked her off. Terra hung in the air for a moment and the drone used this time to let off a final shot at her, and missed. Terra landed back on her feet and charged at the drone and gave him a quick punch to the face. The drone was unfazed by the attack and brought his own fist around for a punch of his own. Terra narrowly ducked the blow and brought her arm forward and sent a hail of stones into the drone's face.

At first there was only the sound of rock scrapping metal. Then an almost inaudible click as the mask detached itself from its master and the mask clattered to the ground.

The Titans gasped.

_Slade's Lair…_

_What?_

Mindcheat gripped the edges of her chair. Even she couldn't believe what she was seeing and she was supposed to be in on the plan.

_Was that supposed to happen? What's going on?_

Mindcheat looked to Slade, hoping for some sign that he was just as disturbed by these turn of events as she was. But instead of seeing him shocked or infuriated, he seemed as calm as ever. In fact he looked, at least from his posture, like he couldn't be more pleased.

"Slade, what is going on? What's going to happen to the-?"

Slade held up his hand, silencing Mindcheat. Then rested it on the back of her chair and continued to watch the screen. Mindcheat was about to speak up again but thought better of it. He knew what he was doing but she was still unsure of what.

Mindcheat gave him one last suspicious look and returned her attention to the screen. Somehow, though near impossible to read him, she knew if she could see through his mask…

He'd be smiling.

_Jump City_

_Abandoned Neighborhood…_

"No…way."

Beast Boy's words seemed to describe what everyone was thinking at the moment. It was unthinkable, no impossible what they were seeing. Admittedly Terra had had doubts about what she saw the night before but she wanted to keep it secret before she gave her friends an answer. But seeing this, seeing his face put her doubts to rest.

There before them, wearing a black and gray combat suit, the ones that Slade's drones were accustomed to wearing, was Terran. The Titans stared from Terran and then Terra, wondering what would happen next.

"Is this what you were hiding?" Robin asked.

"I…I," Terra stumbled over her words "I didn't know what to think before…I couldn't-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Terran quickly drew his pistol and fired. Terra and the other Titans instinctively ducked out of the way. Terran snatched up his mask and holstered both his pistols onto his belt. He then raised his arm and a rush of heated air washed over the Titans.

One of the drones had flown back using the boaster engines implanted into their feet and snatched Terran up into the air. Terran and the drone disappeared into a cloud of smoke and the Titans quickly tried to regain their bearings.

"TERRAN, WAIT!" Terra cried.

Terran didn't respond. Robin tried firing his grappling hook at him but every time Terran dodged. He continued firing until it refused to go any farther.

"Cyborg can you track them?" Robin asked as he lost sight of the escapees.

Cyborg brought his left arm to chest height and activated his radar "I got a lock on both Terran and the car, they're…" Cyborg stopped mid-sentence. He tapped his arm once, then twice. He then scratched his head with his free arm. "They're gone."

"What do you mean 'they're gone'?" Robin replied frustratingly.

"They were heading south and I had a good lock on them but then they just disappeared."

"Did they leave your radar range?"

"No, far from it," Cyborg shut down his radar and he shrugged. "They just disappeared."

Robin clenched his fists. This was the second time Slade's drones had gotten away and now it was revealed that Terran was their leader. This was becoming more serious by the minute. Dealing with either Terran or Slade alone was bad enough, but both of them together. They still had no leads as to where they might be operating but there was someone who might know more than they were letting on. Robin turned to Terra and folded his arms.

"Terra, we need to talk."

_Slade's Lair_

_One hour later…_

"Marvelous."

Slade's voice echoed throughout the empty chamber. The only light came from a single lamp hanging loosely from the ceiling, illuminating Terran in the center of the room.

"Truly marvelous…" Slade continued. His highly acute eye gazed at the large cylinder shaped computer at the far end of the room, now wired into several smaller but no less complex devices. Their task was to bring down the encryption safeguarding the computer's mainframe and given time, learn its secrets.

"Now that we possess the super computer, our plan can move forward." Slade stopped circling and nodded in Terran's direction. "And all thanks to you."

Terran opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. Only empty air escaped his throat.

Slade eyed him and moved closer. He examined Terran as he tried to talk, but to no avail. "Perhaps it is time I allowed you to speak?"

Slade wrapped his hand around Terran's neck and pressed with the knuckle of his thumb against where Terran's Adam's apple would have been. Terran began spitting out garbled noises and moans until words finally began to form.

"Whuh…why…?"

Slade gave him a look of support and Terran forced himself to finish the sentence.

"…Why did she call…mu…me…Tear…Terran?"

At first Slade looked disappointed at his apprentices' naivety, but then a smile spread beneath his mask. He placed his hand on Terran's shoulder and led him to another room. It was only a few strides away and the door opened automatically to allow them access. This room, besides being far smaller, was bare except for the small monitor and desk that sat in the center. The monitor was left on and gave the room and dizzying static feel.

"That's right…you don't remember do you?" Slade stated, knowing Terran hadn't the slightest idea of what he was talking about. Slade sat Terran down at the desk and pressed a button on the bottom of the monitor. The monitor suddenly snapped from its sleeping stance and began projecting images into the eyes of Terran.

"Here…everything will become clearer shortly."


	6. Chapter 5

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_Hellos fans and friends a like, today is my birthday 10/19. Normally I would be the one receiving gifts, cakes and etc, but today I thought I'd give you a present. A new chapter! (Come on, what else can I give?). I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it._

* * *

Chapter 5

Double Take

"Is that everything?"

Cyborg looked over the jumble of duffel bags that lay askew across the floor and unzipped pockets at random. He nodded at each one he inspected, closing them when he was through.

"Yep that's everything," Cyborg turned to the boy wonder and wined. "Why do we have to drive?"

"Because I said so that's why."

Cyborg grumbled to himself as he began the difficult of fitting the Titans' luggage into the trunk of the T-car, most of which was Starfire's. "They had better have a good reason for driving all the way down there."

_Slade's Lair…_

Mindcheat, Slade's redhead apprentice, dragged her feet along the corridor. Her head was hung low; she was very disturbed by the recent turn of events. The first wheels of Slade's plan had been set in motion. And somehow Mindcheat knew she didn't want to know where it would lead them.

She was already at a loss for how the coming days would turn out; everything didn't seem to make sense. Revealing Terran's identity, stealing a computer that they had no idea what was contained inside, bringing Terran back from his long tour in Steel City a month ago. Nothing made sense.

She absentmindedly turned a corner and headed down another hallway in the almost endless maze of corridors. _What are you planning_? She thought to herself. She stopped walking and leaned against the wall, biting her lip. _And where do I fit into all of this_?

Mindcheat stopped staring at her feet and looked to see where she had wondered. At first she didn't recognize the particular passage but after a few glances she remembered. This hallway was Slade's personal section of the base. All of his possessions and private experiments were done here. But Mindcheat had visited these rooms before, with or without Slade's permission, but that's not what kept her from leaving. At the end of the hallway, almost invisible from sight, was a lone door. Mindcheat knew better than to guess that it was Slade's bedroom, she knew for a fact it was the second door on the right, so this was something new.

She moved closer, making sure to glance behind her incase Slade decided to show up unexpectedly, and came within a few feet of the door. Mindcheat moved her hand towards the panel when a hand sprung from the darkness. Mindcheat jumped as Terran materialized from the shadow covering the door and stared her down. Already she could see something about him had changed, something in his eyes was different. They seemed to promote a sense of power, of purpose. Whatever it was, he did not have it a few days ago. The earth mover released her hand but remained still as a rock. Mindcheat attempted to bypass him but Terran pushed her away from the door.

"Watch it," Mindcheat snarled. She tried again but Terran still refused her passage. "Get out of my way!" Mindcheat shouted and threw a punch.

Terran caught her fist and began to crush it in his hand. Mindcheat punched his forearm with her other fist but it seemed to do no good. She let out a small cry of pain as she fell to her knees.

"Pathetic…" Terran sneered. Mindcheat looked up at him in surprise; she had never heard him speak before. He let go of her fist, now bearing marks where he had grinded his fingers into it, and her hand fell loosely to the ground. Mindcheat grabbed her hand and held it close to her trying to squelch the pain.

Terran rudely stepped over her and headed down the hallway she had just come from. The enigmatic room behind the redhead faded from her mind, she wasn't going to let this stand.

"You…you little…" Mindcheat leapt to her feet and charged at Terran. "HOW DARE YOU!"

She gained on Terran until she was almost literally on top of him. She was about to bring her foot down onto his head when Terran spun around. He slammed the palm of his hand into her gut, instantly knocking the wind out of her. Terran grabbed her by the face when a voice echoed down the hall. Both Terran and Mindcheat turned their gaze down the hall to see a tall, muscular man.

"That is quite enough," said Slade, his words directed more to Terran than anyone.

Terran stood where he was. Slade stared him down menacingly.

"Put her down…" Slade commanded. "Now."

Mindcheat fell from Terran's grasp and instinctively rubbed her jaw where she had been grabbed. Though Mindcheat stood a few inches taller than Terran, his poise made him far more intimidating, not that Mindcheat was afraid with him or was willing to admit. Without a word Terran moved down the hallway and disappeared from sight, leaving Slade and Mindcheat alone.

Slade moved closer to Mindcheat, stopping only when he was within a foot of her. "How's your jaw?"

"Could be better," Mindcheat replied spitefully. "No thanks to that little prick."

Slade rubbed his chin with his right hand as he gazed down the hallway Terran had exited. "Yes…he has been acting most…" Slade tapped his chin, thinking of the proper choice of words. "Unexpected…"

"You're telling me."

"He's far more obedient than I thought he was going to be."

Mindcheat did a double take and looked upon Slade with astonishment. "_Obedient_? He was far better when he was a mindless drone." Mindcheat began rubbing her hand again and her thoughts turned back to the door, the reason for all her troubles.

"So what was he doing by that door anyway?"

Slade returned his gaze to Mindcheat and put his arm on her sturdy shoulder. He led her back down the hall until they exited the wing. "That need not concern you my dear…"

_How many times do I need to tell you to stop calling me that_ Mindcheat thought, annoyed at his constant reference to her as 'dear'.

"…But know this." Slade stepped to the side, forcing Mindcheat to become backed up against the wall. "You are never to go in that room under any circumstances…_ever_."

Mindcheat stared at Slade. "Why? Terran can be near it so why can't I?"

Slade turned his head to the side and smiled menacingly "To keep you out of course."

"Why do you want that room kept so secret?"

Slade bent closer until Mindcheat found it impossible to look anywhere but at him. "Mindcheat, you have proven yourself a most promising apprentice." Slade backed away and proceeded towards his private office. "Don't prove me wrong."

Slade backed away from her and began his trek back into the bowls of the base. Before he was out of earshot Mindcheat called: "Where's Terran going, I heard you talking about shipping him out again."

Slade disappeared from sight, ignoring her question and Mindcheat was left alone in the empty corridor. _So…there's something behind that door that you don't want me to see…_ Mindcheat thought to herself, as she took slow steps back to her room. A wicked smile spread across her face as she looked back down the corridor that lead back to the secret room. _All the more reason for me to see for myself_.

_The T-Car_

_Several Days Later…_

Cyborg relaxed his shoulders as he cruised the T-car down the major highway leading to Steel City. Several days before the Titans had received word from the Titans East to come to their City immediately. When they had asked why, the Titans East merely stated that it was urgent that they get there as quickly as they could.

Cyborg's winter clothing lay inside his duffel bag that was now crammed into the trunk of the car along with everyone else's. He wasn't going to be caught in Steel City without some way to keep him warm and he advised everyone else to as well. Last time he felt as though he would freeze over at any second from the constant cold weather.

"Robin…" said Cyborg as he made a right at the turnoff. "Remind me again why we couldn't take the new T-ship?"

"Because we haven't added a sixth seat yet remember," replied Robin. "You were to busy fixing the T-car and expanding it for more passengers instead of refitting the _Vertigo_."

"Well I painted it didn't I?"

"Cyborg we're almost there. Now's not the time to complain."

"But Terra, Starfire or Raven could have flown behind us and we'd have been there in half the time."

"Cyborg that would have been rude to have them fly behind us."

"Starfire wouldn't mind."

"Cyborg!"

"Fine maybe not Starfire but definitely Terra; Raven would kill us if we had her fly behind"

"No Cyborg."

"Ok, ok fine, bad idea."

A bright light shown through the rear mirror and Cyborg held up his hand to block it out.

_Great, some idiot's got their bright on_ Cyborg thought angrily. He adjusted his mirror so he could get a clearer view of the rear of the car. He saw the heads of Beast Boy and Terra at the bottom of his mirror and he shifted it down for a better look. It was impossible to tell whether it was Terra resting on Beast Boy or the other way around. Her hair mixed with his making them look connected at the head as the two snored away in the back of the car. Cyborg rolled his eyes and returned his attention to the road and passed a sign showing they were two miles away from Steel City.

"Hey, we're almost there. Should I wake everyone?"

Robin shook his head. "No, let them sleep. We've been driving for days."

Cyborg took the turnoff and the T-car decelerated as it entered the outskirts of Steel City. Like Cyborg's last visit, the city was dark and gloomy. The smog from the industrial factories cast a dark cloud over the city making it nightfall every waking hour. Needless to say it did nothing to improve the moods of the populace. Though the Titans East had done a magnificent job helping to rebuild the city, there was still visible damage from their encounter with Terran several months prior.

"Seems like everywhere we go, Terran has left his mark." said a voice from behind.

Cyborg and Robin swung around to see Raven rubbing her eyes. She had woken up a few minutes earlier and was now taking in the sites. Not that there was much to take in.

Cyborg nodded and returned to the task of driving. "Tell me about it."

Cyborg took a right turn and soon they were cruising along the coastline. The T-car hit the water and the wheels rotated so that they now acted as propellers, speeding the car across the water. It wasn't long before the Steel City Titans Tower came into view, standing tall against the cliff.

"Hey, they're farther along with repairs than we are!" Cyborg stated in surprise.

Robin took a closer look and sure enough his robotic companion was right. The Tower here looked very far along in its repairs, unlike the Tower in Jump City that still had entire floors left to rebuild. The Tower in Steel City looked more mechanical whereas the one in Jump City was more windows than anything. Armor plating had been added to the exterior that Cyborg guessed was to reinforce it in case of a mudslide, a wise caution considering what happened last time.

"You're right, wonder how they did it." Robin said and sat back in his chair.

"Maybe it's just the outside and the inside's a wreck."

"Doubt it, the Titans East are capable of handling themselves, maybe they've had more time."

Cyborg and Robin continued to discuss how the Titans East fixed their Tower so quickly, but Raven paid little attention, her thoughts were somewhere else. She felt something inside the Tower, something she had not felt in a long time. It felt familiar yet different at the same time. She tossed the feeling aside and braced herself as the T-car hit the ramp to the garage.

"Ok y'all, we're here." Cyborg announced as he shifted the car into park.

No one budged.

"I said: **WE'RE HERE**!" Cyborg slammed his metal hand against the steering wheel and the Titans were blasted with a wave of sound from the horn.

Everyone who hadn't been awake moments prior bolted up right, and nearly smacked their heads on the seat in front of them. Everyone began making a fuss at once, wondering, as Beast Boy put it: "What the heck was that for?" while Cyborg smiled to himself in the front seat. He released his grip on the horn and stepped out of the car.

"Don't know what you guys are talkin' about." he chuckled. Cyborg got out of the T-car and opened the truck and began tossing the bags to their owner.

Beast Boy exited the car with Terra following in suit. He pressed his hands against his back making irritating popping sounds as he back straightened, and rested against the T-car.

"I wanna buy a new butt." the changeling complained as he massaged his sore buttocks. "Why couldn't we have at least stopped at a hotel once?"

"Because we wanted to make it here as soon as possible, and we did." Cyborg replied irritably. "Besides, I doubt you had the money to spend one hour at a hotel."

"Well that doesn't mean we couldn't have gotten out to stretch at least once in awhile."

Cyborg tossed Beast Boy's duffel bag to him, nearly knocking him over in the process. Cyborg then slung his bag across his shoulder and closed the trunk. Everyone was tired and irritable; staying in a car for 120 hours was no easy task and had taken a toll on everyone's mood, even Raven had become more irritable than usual.

The Titans entered the garage at the base of the Tower. It was littered with power tools, girders, and other appliances for repairing the Tower. Cyborg looked up into the rafters and saw the roof had yet to be repaired and exposed a bare superstructure.

Cyborg turned to the scrawny caped crusader and smiled. "Told you they just fixed the outside."

Robin was about to reply when the double doors at the far end of the garage swung open. A young woman with dark skin in a set of tights that resembled a bumblebee stepped into the room and announced in a cheerful voice. "Finally, you're here, and quite an entrance, I didn't know it was customary to blast one's horn after a long trip."

"Hey Bumblebee" said Cyborg as he stepped forward to greet his old friend.

"Hey yourself Sparky, We were beginning to think you weren't coming."

Cyborg glowered at Robin. "Well we would have been here sooner if we took a faster means of travel."

"Get over it Cyborg."

Instead of continuing the argument he and Robin had had to many times to count in the car, Cyborg dropped the subject and followed Bumblebee into the waiting elevator down the hall. Everyone else groaned as they followed them, carrying their overstuffed bags until they reached the elevator. The ride up the elevator to took several minutes because it kept stopping and starting at random intervals but finally they reached the top. Cyborg secretly took pride that the Titans East still didn't fully understand how to put together a Tower.

Bumblebee led them into the common room where Mas and Menos were waiting anxiously for them. The Titans entered the common room and were suddenly surrounded by a white and red blur.

"SENOR CYBORG, SENOR ROBIN, SENOR BEASTBOY, SENORITAS STARFIRE Y RAVEN, BUENOS TARDES!"

"Uh, does any here know Spanish?" Terra asked as she desperately tried to follow the two speedy twins' movements, only to become extremely disoriented. She collapsed against Beast Boy from her dizziness and was startled as Mas and Menos came to an abrupt halt in front of her.

Mas stepped away from his brother, smoothed his hair back and cleared his voice. "Senorita…" he stopped. He rotated his hand in a circular pattern as if deep in thought. He looked up to Terra and blushed. "Se llama?"

Terra cocked an eyebrow and recalled what little she knew of the Spanish language. Finally she realized that they had never met and guessed he wanted to know her name. "Terra." she said sweetly.

Mas looked as though he would melt into a puddle as she said her name and grabbed her hand and knelt down before her. "Senorita Terra, es muy divina-"

Beast Boy, knowing more Spanish than the rest of his team, knew Mas was out of line. "HEY, back off!" Beast Boy interjected. He tore Terra's hand from him and Mas squealed. Mas had a shocked look on his face and began shaking his fist at Beast Boy while shouting at him with such ferocity not even Menos knew what he was saying.

Terra looked between the two boys with great confusion. Again she felt out of the loop. "What did he say?"

"He won't be sayin' much if he doesn't control his mouth!"

Mas retreated to the safety of his brother and stuck his tongue out at Beast Boy.

"You little…"

Beast Boy charged at Mas but got a mouthful of carpet as Mas dragged Menos with him and disappeared from sight. They reappeared on top Beast Boy and Mas performer a small dance routine before disappearing again, with his brother unwillingly following.

"MAS, COOL IT!" Bumblebee demanded, but Mas continued to move around the room at lightning speed.

Beast Boy got up off the floor and dusted himself off before he was not off his feet again by Mas. Finally the changeling had had enough and lunged out at Mas as he slowed down to normal speed and grabbed him by the neck.

Menos then kicked Beast Boy in the shin for strangling his brother and Beast Boy yelped in pain. Beast Boy then grabbed Menos and lifted them up into the air. "Listen, you," he looked at Menos. "Stop kicking me, and you," He turned to Mas, the start of all the trouble. "Back off, she's my girlfriend, and quit dancing on me!"

The Hispanic twins looked at each other with a smile and Mas whispered. "Es poyo loco."

"I heard that!"

"Alright that is enough!" Bumblebee removed Mas and Menos from Beast Boy's grip and they took cover behind her. "Now sit down!" Bumblebee pointed towards a table with metal chairs forming a circular pattern around it.

"THEY STARTED IT!" He glared at the two speedsters and growled as he took his seat. "I had better not have been dragged across the country for this."

"Well you're in luck, you weren't, we actually had something else to show you guys."

"A new battle plan?" asked Robin as he took a seat.

"No."

"New ways to kick-the-butt?" asked Starfire, taking the seat to the left of Robin

"That's the same as the last question."

"A way to put Mas and Menos on a leash?" asked Beast Boy, eyeing the twins from the corner of his eye. They made a face at him but Bumblebee slapped them.

"No, and would you guys knock it off."

His gaze kept wandering between the small, rectangular machine sitting on the far end of the room. His heart filled with joy. "YOU GUYS FIXED MY CHILI MACHINE THAT WAS SO NICE OF YOU!" Cyborg shouted with great enthusiasm. Bumblebee gave him a stern look and Cyborg's spirits dampened. "Didn't you?"

"Heck no!"

"Darn it."

Bumblebee groaned and sat down at her seat. "Would you guys stop guessing, you're never going to get it."

"Alright, alright tell us." Robin said before his teammates could continue.

At that moment Aqualad and Speedy walked in and had large grins on their faces. They say the other Titans and a look of fear struck them. "Did we miss it?"

Bumblebee cocked an eyebrow and shrugged. This caused their grins to return and they raced to the kitchen and pulled out several cups and bottles of root beer.

"Here…" Aqualad said as he passed out to each one of the original Titans.

"…On the house" Speedy finished as he began pouring root beer into each one of the glasses. Once everyone had a full glass, Speedy and Aqualad sat down in their seats and nodded to Bumblebee.

"Thanks, I think," she said, rather annoyed by the interruption and that they hadn't poured her any. "Now that we're done I'm sure you all will be very excited," Bumblebee turned to Terra and smiled. "Especially you."

Before Terra could ask what she meant by that the door to the common room slid open and a teenage boy with blonde hair walked in. He wasn't the tallest boy in the world but he was the same size as Terra and Beast Boy but had a much stronger build. Terra nearly gagged when he walked in.

"Hey Bumblebee, you wanted to see…" his voice trailed off and the common room became eerily silent.

_Slade's Lair…_

"I still don't see it."

"I wouldn't expect you to."

Mindcheat leaned against Slade's chair in his office, a notion he found quite disrespectful but decided to let it slide. Slade was playing several video recording for his apprentice to study, so far she wasn't seeing the whole picture.

"It doesn't make sense Slade, why go to all the trouble of hiding him only to make himself known."

"Like I said before, it will all make sense in time."

Mindcheat nodded and continued to study the recording. For several minutes it continued to cycle through past recordings of Terran's encounters with the Titans only to snap back to the present where he was once again fighting them.

"Slade I've been thinking." she said after a long period of silence

"Oh really."

"Yeah, if Terran left only a few days ago, how did he beat the Titans to Steel City?"

"He flew."

"But that still doesn't account for…" A light bulb snapped on inside the psyches' head. So looked unto her master and smiled. "You never intended him to beat them there, did you?"

Her teacher rose from his chair and hit a button, pausing the recording off. Terran's image was now frozen on screen, stuttering in-between to separate frames. "Quite the contrary, he did beat them there."

"Well then, what's he supposed to?"

Slade smiled beneath his iron mask. "Exactly what he has been doing..." Slade stepped around Mindcheat and exited the room. "…making himself known."


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Back in Black

All the Titans who had a mouthful of root beer at that moment soon found that their tasty beverage was now streaming across the room in long streams, except for Cyborg who had shattered the bottom of his cup when spat out his drink. 

There were a great deal of flashes from a camera, illuminating the room in sudden bursts but the Titans paid no heed. Cyborg rose from his chair and fired his sonic cannon into the doorway where the boy stood. The boy let out a short yelp before ducking behind the door as the sonic wave passed over his head. Starfire then followed up by launching a hail of star bolts into the doorway and drove the boy from his hiding place. Just as the boy left his cover, Raven grabbed him in a black aura and reeled him in for the final blow.

"HOLD IT!" Bumblebee shouted, causing the Titans to cease their aggression. Bumblebee grabbed Cyborg's arm before he fired off another shot and gave the other Titans a stern look. "What is the matter with you guys!?"

The Titans all started shouting at once.

"What is he doing here!?"

"He nearly messed up my dew!"

"…tried to kill us-!"

"…a bad glurnotch!-"

"…should be in jail-!"

"-ALMOST MESSED UP MY DEW!"

Bumblebee tried to calm the other Titans down but found they would not listen. It wasn't for another few moments until she noticed that one of them was missing. Terra had strayed away from her friends and was inching closer to the blond haired boy being suspended in a black aura upside-down.

She leaned closer to the boy and eyed him suspiciously. She looked over him once, and then twice, making sure she wasn't seeing things. "Bro?"

The boy gave her a sarcastic smile and replied rudely. "Nice of you to finally notice, sis."

Terra was suddenly overrun by her emotions. She couldn't decide what to do at that point. Cry, laugh, jump for joy, or go into a fit of rage? She just stood there motionless, gazing at her brother. Terra moved closer and reached out her hand to touch him. But instead of a gently, heartwarming touch, she slapped him. 

"OW! What the heck was that for!?" Terran jostled around in his floating prison but it barely budged an inch.

Terra slapped him again. "For before you jerk!" Terra began slapping Terran over and over again ever time he tried to speak, until the impression of her hand started becoming visible through the black aura.

"FOR CRYING OUT- _OW_ - TERRA WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE-_OW!_"

At that point Bumblebee grabbed Terra before she could slap him again. Terra struggled for a few seconds before finally giving up. She turned her back to Terran and folded her arms. She snarled when she made eye contact with Aqualad and Speedy, who were each holding cameras. They quickly hid the cameras behind their backs, innocent smiles on their faces, and left the room. 

"CAN SOMEONE LET ME DOWN!?" Terran shouted. Everyone except Terra turned their attention back to him and Raven snapped her fingers. The field around Terran ceased to be and he fell to the floor headfirst. He tumbled over himself in a heap before regaining his sense of balance. Terran rubbed his head as he got up and glared at his sister as she took quick glances back at him. "Well this isn't quite the day I had in mind, what are you guys doing here anyways?" He made eye contact with his sister and they both exchanged hateful glares.

"You invited us." said Cyborg.

Terran was about to reply when he turned his gaze to Bumblebee and glared. "We knew you'd object." she said innocently.

Terran gave one last look at his sister before he stormed out of the room, grumbling under his breath "Darn right."

Once Bumblebee was sure the door had closed she turned on the Titans. "What the hell was that all about?" 

Beast Boy got up from his chair. He wiped the remains of his root beer from his shirt. "We should be asking you the same question."

"Yeah," Cyborg agreed. "Why is he here?"

"More importantly, why isn't he in jail?" added Robin.

Bumblebee pulled up a chair and sat down. She folded her arms and said "Maybe you guys should fill me in."

After several minutes the Titans explained to the present members of the Titans East their encounters with Terran in Jump City. The situation became only more complex when Bumblebee told them of how they came across Terran. Three weeks before, the Titans East were investigating a break-in at a warehouse by the port. A group of thieves narrowly escaped with several crates of expensive computer equipment, but not without leaving behind a certain blond teenager. 

"So you just…found him?" Robin asked when Bumblebee's half of the story was finished.

"Pretty much, he was just lying there unconscious." Bumblebee replied.

"What did he say when he woke up?" Cyborg asked, joining the conversation.

"Not much…well, really nothing at all."

"Nothing?"

"Yup not a word, at least until recently."

Terra, who had still been steaming, joined in. "He didn't say anything, not even about us?"

"Nope, when we tried to talk about it he either didn't acknowledge us or walked away."

Terra's expression softened but she was still visibly angry. "But why, why wouldn't he want to come back to us?"

Robin moved closer to Terra and placed his arm on her shoulder. "Terra, maybe he just hasn't gotten over the fact that he'll have to face us again after what he did. Kind of awkward when you're not supposed to be alive."

"But-"

"Terra," Bumblebee said. "Maybe you should talk to him yourself."

"Why do I have to-?" Terra asked, a rather stupid question.

"-Because you're his sister." Robin replied. "If he's going to open up to anyone, it's going to be you. You said it yourself, you're both very close."

Terra was about to object again, but thought better of it and made her way to the door. It slid open, making its signature _whoosh_, and she silently stepped. "Were…"

_7__th__ Floor_

_Workshop…_

Terran stood fuming over a worktable with scattered power tools lying across it. He was angry, not just at Terra for slapping him but at the Titans East for inviting the whole team here. Didn't they get it that he didn't want them to know, at least not for awhile. Especially after all he had done to them. He was surprised the Titans East gave him a second chance after nearly killing them, but the Titans, and especially his sister, were going to complicate things. He could no longer ignore them.

There was a small _clang!_ and Terran turned to the source. A girl bearing an eerie resemblance to him was standing over the doorway, leaning over to pick up a wrench she had dropped. Terran shot a glare when she made eye contact with him and returned to gazing at the worktable.

"Terran?" she said.

"What Terra?"

"Mind if I come in?"

"Aren't you already?"

"Terran, why are you being such a jerk?"

Terran spun around and marched to his twin sister in an attempt to give the impression he had authority. "I'm being the jerk! What do you call that upstairs?"

"That was payback!" Terra matched his stance.

"Payback for what!?"

"For attacking us, for attacking me!"

"I thought you said you'd already forgiven me!"

Terra smacked her twin brother upside the head. "Don't play stupid Terran, everyone saw you."

Terran responded with a quick jab to the arm and snapped. "Of course everyone saw me, it's not like I was trying to hide!"

"HA! You admit it!"

"Of course I admit it, you already knew about me being a member of the 'Brotherhood'."

Terra stopped as she opened her mouth and it hung there for a full three seconds. Terran's twin placed her hands on her hips. "Terran," she said her voice a tad bit calmer, "I think we're talking about two completely different things."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Terran proclaimed. "You never could keep a conversation straight." Terra tried smacking him again but Terran caught her blow. "And would you stop that!"

Terra tried to pull her arm from her brother but found he wouldn't let go. She stopped struggling and stared into eyes that matched her own. "Terran, I love you, you know that. But what you tried to do I can't just ignore."

"Terra, what are you talking about?"

"I'M TALKING ABOUT YOU WORKING FOR SLADE!" Terra told him at last.

Terra's arm dropped from her brother's grasp. His face twisted as he tried to make sense of what came out of his sister's mouth. His answer was summed up into a single, simply word. "_WHAT_?!"

_Slade's Lair…_

Slade sat upon his throne with both arms crossed over his lap. The only illumination came from a large set of monitors imbedded into the wall twenty meters away. The image each screen was projecting overlapped one another, creating a single, larger picture before him. A blond haired girl with hazel blue eyes, wearing a black T-shirt and short blue jeans, encompassed the screen.

"_**Terran, I love you, you know that. But what you tried to do I can't just ignore**_." she said, her voice slightly overlapped by static. 

A few seconds later another voice, this time male that was out of sight, projected from the speakers. He said, "_**Terra, what are you talking about**_?"

"_**I'M TALKING ABOUT YOU WORKING FOR SLADE**_!" the girl responded. Her voice was raised and one could identify the stress and anger in her tone. Slade set his head back and waited for the response. "_**WHAT**_?!" 

It was short, but nonetheless to the point. Quite disappointing really, Slade had expected Terran to come up with a wittier response. Slade chuckled to himself as he rose from his seat and exited the room, taping a small controller located on his belt. "Playing stupid are we? Sorry Terran, but you're going to have to do better than that."


	8. Chapter 7

_My apologies for this chapter taking almost a month to finish, but since the last one was rather short I decided to make sure this one was long. Enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 7

Light on the Situation

Terran stared at his sister in disbelief. He couldn't believe what she had just accused him of doing. She was either pulling his leg, or she was crazy. "What do you mean: 'Working for Slade'?"

"Exactly what I said," Terra said. "You-are-working-for-Slade." She prodded her finger into his chest with every syllable.

Terran swatted it away and rubbed the place where she had poked him the most. He then prodded his own finger into her and snarled: "I'm-not-working-for-Slade!" He folded his arms and they both stared each other down.

"Oh, and I guess I just imagined it all huh?"

"Yeah, I guess that's it."

Terra folded her arms as well and glared at her brother. She was quickly becoming agitated with him. "Oh ok then. I guess we can rule out that Robin, Cyborg, Starfire, Beast Boy, _and_ Raven imagined it all to."

Terran moved closer so that was staring directly into her eyes. His mood wasn't any better than Terra's. "You know what Terra?" He shoved her. "I thought when we met again you'd at least be overjoyed to see me."

"I was!" Terra retorted. "But then _you_ attacked me, not exactly what I'd call friendly." She shoved Terran back, and pressed her advantage by not allowing him to regain his poseur. "Besides, you're supposed to be dead!" Terra stopped at that, she had gone too far.

Terran looked away. It took him a few moments to recover from the blow. "Yeah, and I bet you wished I stayed that way," he said.

Terra was about to retort when she noticed how hurt Terran looked. They both fell silent and for several minutes said nothing to one another. It was obvious to the both of them that this reunion was going to anything but a happy one. Terran, who had been recently deceased, was hurt how Terra was blindly accusing him of something he had no knowledge of. And Terra, who would have given anything to have her brother back, was devastated that when they finally reunited, Terran was once again on the side of evil. It only made her even angrier that when they caught Terran in the act, he denied every word of it.

Finally, after a long silence, Terra spoke up. "Terran, I didn't mean it that way. Yes I'm glad you're back, really. But you…" Her voice trailed off. Tears began to form in her eyes and she struggled to hold them back. "I don't want to see you being evil again."

"I'm not," Terran replied. "Nor will I ever be again." He stood up straighter and refused to meet Terra's blurry gaze. "I learned my lesson the first time; I just wish that you trusted me more."

"Terran," his sister began. Instead of finishing her sentence, she hurriedly embraced her brother and hugged him with all her might. "But I _saw _you, beneath the mask. And I know my eyes weren't playing tricks on me." Her beloved brother finally hugged her back and the twins both stood in silence. "I love you bro, and I'll never be able to say it enough."

Meanwhile, Robin and Bumblebee were finishing up watching the recording of the Titans' encounters with Terran a few floors up. Each recording had been taken by his team's communicators so they were bound to only a few perspectives. By the end, Bumblebee was still slightly unconvinced but still nonetheless suspicious about Terran.

"Go through it one more time for me," she asked as she ran over the information in her head. "Mainly the start and end of the battles."

Robin hit the rewind button and they once again watched the events of the past week play out before them. Bumblebee watched intently but something was still missing, something that didn't quite place the blame on Terran. Likewise, there was still something fishy about the situation all together. Terran had never left the Tower…

"Hey, can you turn on the time and dates of these attacks," Bumblebee told Robin.

Robin nodded and hit the button on his communicator, displaying the time. The first attack, where Robin first came across Terran, read 8/17 at 1:00 P.M. The second was, again on the same day, 8/17 at 7:00 P.M. And finally, the third attack was 8/18, the next day, at 6:30 P.M. Bumblebee wrote the times down on a scrap piece of paper and smiled to herself.

"What are you going to do with those?" Robin asked as he disconnected his communicator from the main view screen.

"Just a little something to look up," she smiled. "If we're going to get to the bottom of this, than we're going to need to investigate everything."

"So, why don't we search his room?"

"Good luck finding anything in there."

_7__th__ Floor_

_Workshop…_

"So you don't remember anything."

"Nope, nothing."

Terra and Terran were both engaged in a one-on-one conversation. They both had finally calmed down a bit and were now discussing how Terran survived. So far, Terran was as clueless as the rest of them.

"So you just…woke up," Terra asked, not quite believing her brother couldn't remember anything.

"Yeah," he replied. He sensed the uncertainty in her voice but what else could he tell her. He couldn't remember. "I remember blacking out, after I erected that wall-"

"-Which I wasn't too happy about," Terra added.

Terran gave her a sarcastic smile and continued. "-Which you weren't too happy about. But you wouldn't have made it out if you took me along." He stopped, his thoughts returned to that time. Strangely, he had felt the greatest amount of peace then. Perhaps it was because he was no longer burdened by the constant presence of his master. Terran winced at the thought. _No_, he thought, _not master_.

"Terran?"

Terran snapped back to realty. Apparently he had been zoned-out longer than he realized. "Sorry."

"It's ok," his sister said with a smile. "Just lost you there for a moment."

"Thanks. Now, where were we?"

Terra playfully smacked on the side of the head. "I was trying to get you to remember what happened to you when you died. Apparently your memory problems go farther than light."

"Oh, right…hey!"

Terra chuckled but Terran merely rolled his eyes. "Gotcha," she joked.

Terran ignored her to and tried recalling them memory again. This time being careful not to let his mind wander incase tried to crack another joke. "Let's see. I remember me dying but…it wasn't as if I died but like..." He looked to Terra, a feeling of desperation in his voice, then a look of shock. "Like I was half-dead ya' know. Not quite dead but…not quite alive either. Like you when you were stone."

"Don't remind me."

Terran rolled his eyes and continued. "Like I said, I feel into darkness then nothing but a big blank."

"Oh come on, there has to be more," Terra replied, still unsatisfied with his answer.

"I told you already there isn't, give it a rest," Terran repeated, his anger rising.

Terran got up to leave but his sister sat him back down. She gave him a stern look and said: "No I'm not going to give it a rest until I know the truth. Now come on Terran, just one more try…" her frown faded and turned into a caring smile "…please."

Terran let out a long annoying groan and settled into his seat. "Terra," he began, resting his hands on his lap, "I can't remember, I'd love to but I can't. There was nothing mo-" Terran stopped mid-sentence, his mouth gaping slightly.

"Bro, you ok?"

Terran didn't answer, something had snapped on in his head. A single word echoed through his mind like a silent chorus. A word repeating over and over.

_Rest…_

The voice was so familiar, yet so strange at the same time. Terran tried harder to remember the rest, but it slipped from his grasp like sand through his fingers. He pressed harder for the memory.

_Rest now. Don't struggle…_

"Terran?"

The memory vanished and Terran felt a feeling of anger towards his sister for distracting him. He was so close to remembering and she had distracted him. He felt like lashing out at her, but remained in control of his temper.

"Terran, mind telling me why you just spaced-out like that, again," Terra asked, a little annoyed.

Terran clenched his fist, trying to ball up his rising temper. _Don't yell, she was just worried_, Terran told himself. He took a deep breath and spoke to his sister in a calm voice. "I remembered something."

"Really, what?"

"Well if you let me finish I could tell you," Terran snapped, letting his anger slip. Terra frowned at him and settled back into her seat and motioned for him to continue. "I remembered someone talking to me…but I can't remember who."

Terra's expression softened and she leaned forward. "Well what did it sound like," she asked, wanting to know more.

Terran struggled over how to describe the voice. It was kind, but also had a sense of authority and power. Still, anyone could have sounded like that, heck Robin did on a daily basis. But before the twins could explore the memory further, Bumblebee walked looking quite cheerful.

"Hey guys, whatcha doin'," she said, a wide, confident smile on her face.

The twins looked at each other and cocked an eyebrow, then turned back to the leader of the Titans East. "Just talking," they said together.

"Oh good," Bumblebee replied, her smile growing slightly wider. "Hey Terra, mind if I talk to you for a moment?"

Terra nodded and followed her out of the room. As soon as Terra stepped out of the doorway Bumblebee closed the door behind them and her face bore a serious tone. "Terra, I need a favor."

"Ok, what is it," Terra asked, suspicious of the sudden favor she had to fulfill.

"I need you to take him out for awhile."

"What for?"

"So you two could be alone for awhile and talk."

Terra put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow. "What do you think we were just doing?"

Bumblebee sighed, seeing that Terra was going to force an explanation out of her. But she was his sister, what harm could it do? "Alright I'll tell you why. We need Terran out of the Tower for awhile so we can do a little investigating."

"What difference would it make if he were here?"

"Because," Bumblebee began, growing a little irritated, "if he is here, he might try to stop us from finding evidence."

"So you suspect him?"

"Don't you?"

Terra was about to respond when she stopped herself. She did suspect him. Terra rubbed the back of her neck and said sadly: "Yeah I do, but I can't be sure. There are too many things pointing away from him."

"My thoughts exactly," Bumblebee agreed, hoping it would reassure Terra of her suggestion. "But there is also strong evidence against him, which is why we need him out of the way."

Terra eyed Bumblebee for a few moments before seceding. "Ok, we'll head out for a little while."

"Great," Bumblebee exclaimed as soon as Terra finished. She rested her hand on Terra's shoulder and said reassuringly: "Don't worry; we'll get to the bottom of this." The earth mover smiled, thankful for the support and went back into the workshop where here brother was anxiously waiting for them to return.

Bumblebee smiled to herself and headed back to the elevator. She pressed the button and it opened immediately, allowing her entry. She gracefully stepped inside and hit the button for the second-to-top floor. The elevator wined as it tugged on its strained cables before finally ascended. It was several minutes before the elevator finally halted at the proper floor. Bumblebee stepped out and stopped when she reached the circular table where all the Titans had gathered.

"Well," Robin asked.

Bumblebee smiled and placed her hands on her hips. "Ok everyone, time to get to work."

_Titans Tower East_

_Entrance…_

"Tell me again why you want a tour of the city?"

"Because Terran, I've never been here before," Terra replied, somewhat annoyed by her brother's stubbornness. It had taken her nearly ten minutes to drag him down here. "Besides you already know the city I live in, I want to get to know yours."

The sound of metal-on-metal echoed inside the garage as Terran forced the garage door open. "Somehow I doubt that," he grumbled, securing the latch so the door wouldn't come crashing down on their heads. Terra strode up to Terran's side as they rounded the corner and headed to the back of the Tower. Ahead was a wide tunnel penetrating the cliff side at a forty-five degree angle and the twins began they trek up.

"Why's this here," Terra asked as she inspected the tunnel. She guessed by the thoroughness of the excavation that it was Terran's handiwork.

"I dug it up so we could have a quick way up to the city," Terran answered. "After all, me and Bumblebee are they only ones who can fly."

"Since when could _you_ fly," Terra joked, knowing full well what he meant by _fly_.

Terran wheeled around and gave her an icy stare. "I can bring up a platform to carry me around, you can do it to. Duh."

Terra returned the look and snapped: "Jeez Terran lighten up! I was only trying to have a little fun."

"Well I don't want to have any fun, ok!"

"Why not, if anything it'll do you some good!" Terra clenched her fists and Terran did the same. They both felt confrontation between them was inevitable at this rate.

"Because I just don't feel like it!"

Terra growled in anger. She was tired of Terran trying to push her away when he obviously needed her. And the fact that he had attacked her days earlier with no remorse didn't improve her attitude toward him either. "Terran," she began, biting her lips so she wouldn't start screaming at him, "didn't you tell me how you never got to be a kid. How you never got to have any fun?"

Terran's expression darkened and he stared at the floor. Terra could tell he was reflecting on his life and knew it saddened him. "Yeah."

Terra placed her arm around Terran's shoulder and gave him a half-hug. "Well now's the time to have fun bro, just the two of us. It'll be like old times."

Terran's expression lightened. He had had doubts about Terra wanting to spend time with him for the sake of spending time with him, especially after how she accused him of working for Slade. But now he felt that she was sincere and still cared about him. "Ok," he smiled, "let's have a little fun."

Terra's ceased her embrace and shoved Terran to the side. While Terran was off balance she broke into and sprint and called back: "Race ya to the top!"

Terran was about to retort when a faint smile spread across his face. He pushed off from the wall he had been using to support himself and raced after her. "You're on!"

_Titans Tower East…_

_Well this is interesting_…

Robin tapped on the display and brought up a page for the Titans East roster. The roster listed bios for every member of the Titans East, including Terran. Robin was a bit skeptical of this at first but was eased when he saw Terran was listed under the "Honorary Membership" category. Anyone under "Honorary Membership" had restricted-to-no access to the Titans mainframe as well as any other sensitive information.

_Well, at least they took precautions_, Robin thought as he clicked on Terran's profile.

To Robin's dismay, the bio was merely comprised of information on Terran's past endeavors with the Titans and barely anything recent. The only thing recent, that Robin hadn't already known, was Terran's progress with the Titans East. From the way the report described his life with the Titans East, it looked as thought Terran had been invaluable in the reconstruction of Titans Tower in Steel City. He had even gone to great lengths to ensure the Tower would survive a landslide which Terran, ironically, had caused to destroy the Tower in the first place while under the influence of Brain. But, again, the evidence the Titans had greatly contradicted what Robin was seeing in the computer. There was no way Terran could make it from Steel City to Jump City in time for the attacks, unless.

Robin closed the bio and accessed the program that linked the Titans East communicators to the mainframe. _Now if only…yes!_ It was posted that Terran had a communicator, now Robin had something to work with. Robin tapped on an icon and a signal was sent out to link him to Terran's communicator. But then a message flashed across the screen.

**ERROR. UNIT HAS BEEN DISCONNECTED FROM MAINFRAME. ENDING LINKUP**.

_Disconnected_? Robin hummed to himself as he tapped his thumps together. This defiantly requested further investigation. If Terran's communicator was disconnected from the mainframe then he could go anywhere he wanted without it ever being recorded.

Suddenly an idea popped into his head. Robin pulled out his own communicator and sent a message to Bumblebee to meet him in the main control room. Robin brought up a page displaying the daily activities of the Titans East from when Terran was first found until now. Moments later, Bumblebee flew into the room and landed next to Robin.

"What do you need," she asked as she fiddled with one of her B-shaped weapons.

Robin turned to her and leaned back in the chair. "Did you know that Terran's communicator isn't linked up to the mainframe?"

Bumblebee looked at him in astonishment. "Are you serious?"

Robin motioned towards the computer terminal in front of him. "Look for yourself."

Bumblebee looked over his shoulder and found he was right. This alone raised great suspicion as to whose side Terran was on. "When did this happen," Bumblebee asked. "We should have been informed when he disconnected it."

Robin terminated the linkup and opened another file. "I was about to find out." Robin studied the page as Bumblebee tried to recall anything Terran had done to tamper with his communicator. So far she couldn't remember anytime he would have been able to reprogram it.

"Well, I found out why the system didn't pick it up," Robin announced after several minutes. Bumblebee peered at the screen to see what Robin had found. A normal communicator carried a transmitter that sent a signal to up link itself into the mainframe of the given Tower, therefore allowing the mainframe to record anything and everything that the owner did. Terran's on the other hand was sending out a signal, but a different kind. The signal it was sending was causing the mainframe to block anything the Terran's communicator was sending or receiving. But that was only half of the mystery.

"Bumblebee, do you still have the dates and times of the attacks?" Robin asked as he opened up a record of the communicator logs. Robin studied Terran's portion of it, and found it to be very intriguing. Terran's communicator wasn't always inactive. The logs showed that there were only a handful of times when his communicator began inactive.

Bumblebee handed the scrap piece of paper that she had used to write down the times of the attacks. Robin took them gratefully and plugged the times into the computer and compared them to the times of when Terran's communicator became inactive. Aside from a few hours difference from start to finish, they were a complete match.

_Now we're getting somewhere_, Robin said to himself.

_Steel City_

_Burger Café…_

The café, roughly two miles away from the coast, was relatively empty except for the pair of twins roaring with laughter. Terran and Terra were both sitting by themselves eating their meal of burgers and fries while sharing tales from their childhood.

"Oh, oh," Terra laughed as she choked on her soda, "remember the time when mom made that peach cobbler…"

"…and told us not to eat it…" Terran cut in.

"…and we did anyways!" Terra finished.

Terran and Terra broke into another fit of laughter as the memory became as clear as day. They were both six at the time and their mother had just finished making a cobbler pie for desert.

"_Now remember_," she told them, her hair falling in front of her face as she leaned over. "_This pie is for desert, and NOT for before. Understand_?"

The twins nodded, heartwarming smiles on their faces. Their mother smiled and patted them both on the head. She then kissed them on the forehead and stepped towards the door. "_Ok, now I'm going to go to the store for awhile. So you two will be on your own._"

Scared looks overcame her children.

"_But just for a little while ok_," she reassured them. "_I'll be back in fifteen minutes_." She grabbed her coat from the rack positioned a few feet from the door. "_Now do you remember what I told you if you both were in trouble_?"

Terran and Terra nodded and said in unison: "_We're to go over to Ms. Newmen's house_."

Terran then whispered into Terra's ear, causing her to let out a giggle: "_Even though she's really old_."

"_Terran be nice, she's just an old woman_," their mother scolded.

"_Sorry_," Terran apologized in a small voice.

"_Ok,_" their mother continued, "_And if you can't get over to her house_?"

The twins smiled half-toothed smiles. "_Then we yell and scream as loud as we can until someone helps us_."

Their mother smiled and blew a kiss to them on her way out. "_That's my little angels, now be good_. _And don't touch that pie_."

The twins waved goodbye to their mother until the door clicked shut. They waited until their mother's car faded out into the distance, then turned to each other and smiled. "_Pie_," they said, their mouths beginning to water.

Terran was about to dash into the kitchen when his identical sister stopped him. "Hey, let go," he wined as he tried to push her off.

"No," Terra replied defiantly and pulled harder. "Mom said we can't have any until dinner."

"But you do want some, don't you," Terran tempted. Terra's gaze wavered as she thought it over. She would submit any second. "Come on," her brother continued, "we can't get in trouble unless we're caught."

"Who told you that," Terra questioned.

"Nick told me," Terran answered.

Nicolas Ambrose, or Nick for short, was a fellow student at their school and Terran's best friend. He was always welcomed to their house and after all the times he had spent over he began to feel like part of the family. This suited Terran fine because they were more like brothers than friends, and Nick was one of Terran's few friends that got along with Terra as well. In fact Nick and Terra got along so well that Terran regularly teased them about being married. There was only one downside to Nick; he was infamous for taking anything and everything that he wanted. To their mother's dismay the trait was slowly passing along to Terran.

Terra thought it over before letting go of her brother and charging past him. They raced to the kitchen and stopped where the pie was placed on the counter. It was still slightly warm from the oven and its powerful aroma drifted through the house. The twins took in one deep sniff to savor the smell before reaching up to grab the pie.

"_I can't reach it_," Terra wined. Her six-year-old fingers fell just inches short of her prize no matter how far she stretched them.

"_Me neither_," Terran told his sister. He also fell short of the delicious pie, no surprise considering they were the exact same size to the centimeter.

The twins stopped their attempts at reaching the pie and leaned against the counter and pouted. Terran was tapping his fingers against his head, much like Winnie the Pooh did when he was deep in thought, when Terra had an idea.

"_I got it_," she exclaimed happily.

"_What_?"

Terra grabbed her brother's shoulders and hefted herself onto his back. They rocked back and forth as Terran struggled to support both their weights.

"_You can lift me up and I'll grab the pie_," Terra explained as she grabbed onto his head so she wouldn't fall off.

"_Why do you get to be on top_," Terran wined.

"_Because I'm a lady_," his sister replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

"_You're not a lady_," Terran retorted as he bucked her off his shoulders. Terra fell to the ground and hit her head on the floor. "_You're nothing but a little sister_."

Terra got up off the floor, rubbing a small bruise on her head, and glared hatefully at her brother. "_That hurt_!"

"_So, I'm the older brother_. _I can get away with it_. _I have my wegal rights_," Terran told his sister, mispronouncing 'legal'.

"_No you don't have wegal rights_," Terra snapped, unable to pronounce 'legal' as well, and shoved her brother. "_Cause your nothing but a stupid older brother_."

The counter shook on Terran's impact, causing the pie to tip towards the edge. Terran was about to retaliate when he Terra cried: "_The pie_! _Catch it_!"

The twins both reached out for the pie, grasping it in their tiny hands. The only problem was the pie crust was facing towards them, dumping its contents onto their faces as soon as they caught it. It was at that moment their mother walked back in, remembering she had forgotten her purse at home, when she saw her kids covered in her homemade pie. When they saw the astonished look on their mother's face they quickly pointed at each other.

"_He did it_!" Terra shouted.

"_She did it_!" Terran shouted at the same time.

Instead of scolding her kids, which is what the twins were expecting, she stood in the doorway trying to hold back a tremendous laugh. It wasn't everyday someone saw their kids' faces painted in pie.

"_Come here my little cobbler faces_," their mother giggled as she reached for a towel, "_and let mommy clean you two up_."

The memory subsided as Terran and Terra's laughter quieted down. They sat at the table, half choking on their drinks as they tried to steady their breathing. Terra was pleased that her brother was, at least on the outside, happier. He looked as though he hadn't had a good laugh in a long time and she was glad to have given him that.

"See you can still have a little fun," said Terra.

"Yeah," Terran admitted, hiding a smile with his cup, "thanks."

Terra returned the smile and took a sip of her own drink. "No problem, I'm just glad to see you like your old self again."

Terran nodded, the smile on his face slowly melting, and continued to eat his meal. They sat there for few minutes, quietly eating their meals before Terran finally spoke up again. This time his voice wasn't as cheerful as before, but monotone. "Speaking of the old days, didn't mom used to have black hair?"

Terra stopped mid-bite, and thought about it for a few moments. "I think you're right, yeah she did use to have black hair. Weird, I always remember it being blonde."

"Maybe she dyed it," Terran suggested.

Terra accepted this theory. She placed her hamburger down and leaned on her elbow. The thought of their mother brought forth a hurtful truth. "Ya know," she said in a depressing voice, "it's sad."

"What?"

"I can't remember her name." Terra's mood plummeted and her eyes grew cold. She flicked half a fry off the table and watched it fall to the ground. "I feel awful about it." She picked up her drink and shook it around before taking a long sip. "No matter how hard I try, I can't remember." She gave her brother a longing look and said: "All I know is that it began with an 'A', that's it."

Terran was about to say something when he realized he didn't remember either. He slumped in his chair, all evidence of his once cheerful mood was now gone. "Come to think of it," Terran mumbled, a new depression taking hold of him, "I can't remember dad's name either."

"I don't either. Besides, I don't think mom ever used it."

Terran gave his sister a perplexed look. "What do you mean?"

"Well," she began, trying to recall her memories, "I remember mom always calling him 'Sal' or something like that. Sal isn't a real name, just a nickname."

Terran felt a little better now that his sister mentioned they had never heard it. He leaned back in his chair, thinking of any names that would abbreviate into Sal. "Well," he said, after long consideration, "It's obvious that his name began with an 'S', maybe Salvador."

"Doubt it; we didn't have any Spanish relatives."

"What about our Uncle?"

"His name sounded British."

Terran let out a small snort as he thought of how ridiculous their Uncle's name sounded. "He did have a weird name."

Terra let out a small laugh of her own. "Yeah, sounded like a brand of tea or something."

Terran and Terra let out another laugh before deciding it was time to leave. There were still entire districts of the city that Terra hadn't seen yet, and now Terran was eager to let their time together disappear. They exited the café and just as they stepped around the corner an all too familiar tone sounded inside Terra's pocket.

Terra pulled out her communicator, its yellow casing vibrating while emitting the tone, and flipped it open. "What's up," Terra asked, noticing a disgustful look from her brother.

Robin, who was on the other end, leaned back in his chair. "_**Terra, is Terran there with you**_?"

Terra lifted an eyebrow and looked to her right. Not surprisingly, he was exactly where he was standing five seconds ago. She looked back to Robin and replied in a sarcastic tone: "Uh, yeah."

Robin hummed to himself and quickly jotted down something onto a piece of paper. "_**Ok just wanted to make sure**_."

"What's going on over there," Terra asked, wanting to know the reason behind the ridiculous question.

Robin took in a deep breath and whispered: "_**Just wanted a little more info to go off of**_."

"So you're not finding much to convict him," Terra asked, a hint of hope in her voice.

Robin grinded his teeth and rubbed his fingers back and forth across the paper. "_**Not exactly**_," he said. "_**We have found evidence that it was him, but it's just a suspicion**_."

Terra's heart dropped. "Oh." Robin gave her a smile and reassured her that everything would work out and they'd get to the bottom of it. Somehow this didn't help ease Terra's nerves. The communicator snapped off and Terra replaced it to her belt where it always hung.

Terran, who had been waiting patiently for Terra's call to end, lifted an eyebrow and pointed to the communicator. Terra waved him away and strode in front of her brother. "They just wanted to check up on us. Come on, let's get going."

_Steel City_

_Burger Café…_

Robin shut off his communicator and holstered it onto his utility belt. Robin then lifted himself out of the chair he was seated in and headed out the door with Bumblebee following close behind. Moments later the chime went off again, this time it was Cyborg and Beast Boy. They had found nothing in Terran's room. As Bumblebee had said there wasn't much to find. A cot, a bag of clothes, and a few blankets were all that occupied his room.

"Are you sure that's all," Robin asked his robotic teammate, somewhat skeptical that that was all in his room.

"_**You can come down here and check for yourself, we didn't find diddle**_," Cyborg replied.

Robin growled, knowing that he was telling the truth and shut off the communicator. Robin moved down the hallway at an increasing pace

"What's wrong," Bumblebee asked Robin, noticing his uncertainness.

Robin shrugged. "I don't know. Something about this doesn't feel right. There shouldn't be enough evidence to prove Terran is guilty _AND_ innocent." He planted his fist into his palm began grinding it into his hand. "What is Slade up to?"

Bumblebee didn't know what to tell him. All she could do was keep him hoping that they would eventually outsmart Slade, and learn of his intentions for Terran and Terra.

_Slade's Lair…_

Mindcheat waltzed into a dark, cavernous room where her master was perched upon his throne, as usually. She was unusually cheerful today, and for good reason. She had finally completed the task that her master had challenged her to take on, one that she was constantly mocked for not understanding. But today she had done it and could finally gain her master's respect.

She danced right up to Slade's throne, feeling rather bold, and rested her elbow upon his shoulder. He did not respond. Mindcheat was about to make a comment when she noticed the increases tenseness in her master's posture. She smiled in delight. She stared down upon him and after several minutes he finally turned to her. She was about to speak when she saw the seriousness in his eye. His gaze bored into her and Mindcheat's courage shrank away. She returned to a standing posture and decided to watch what the recording that had transfixed her master's attention.

Without saying a word, Slade returned to his study of the recording. They continued to watch until Mindcheat finally summoned the courage to speak again.

"They're going to figure it out you know," she told him.

"Oh really," Slade replied, his voice cold and unfeeling.

Mindcheat nodded, regaining her courage and spite. "Yeah, the Titans aren't stupid. They're going to put two-and-two together and realize they've been doped." She looked back to her master but he did not look in her direction. "And poof! There goes your master plan," she finished, making an exploding gesture with her hand.

The apprentice then placed her hands behind her back but her gaze on her master. She noticed the slight relaxation in his posture and sparkle in his eye. Mindcheat's spirit rose, taking this for satisfaction in her work, even if her analysis was bleak.

Suddenly there was the muffled sound of gears turning in the background and Mindcheat instantly wiped around. She looked back to her master. "Terran?"

Slade rose from his throne and made his way to the door. "No," he answered, "an old friend of mine." Slade looked back at the monitor and studied the clock. "And he's ahead of schedule. That's unlike him."

Slade opened the doorway leading to the corridor. But before he left Mindcheat alone in his throne room, he looked back to her. "Oh, and Mindcheat?"

"What?"

"What makes you believe _this_ is my master plan."

_Terran and Terra were hurried along by their mother, and when they reached the bathroom she grabbed a towel from the sink and began to clean their faces. Like every six-year-old they struggled to get free, but to little avail._

_"Now we can't have you two looking like," their mother said as the twins' faces broke through the mush, "after all, daddy's coming home tomorrow from his business trip."_

_At the mention of their father, the twins quickly ceased their resistance and began nudging each other so that they could get clean first. Their mother smiled at their childish act and calmed them down. After several soaking minutes they were finally clean and followed their mother into the living room._

_"Hey mom," Terran said. His mother looked to him. "How come daddy's always on business trips?"_

_"Because he has a lot of business to do," his mother replied, quickly thinking of an excuse._

_"Is he going to bring us presents like last time," Terra asked hopefully._

_"Even better," her mother replied._

_"What," they twins asked._

_"Your Uncle."  
_

_"Which one, we have like two," Terra asked, seeking clarification._

_Their mother ruffled their hair and finally answered. "You're Uncle Wintergreen."_


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Faltering Confidence

It had been a few hours since Terran and Terra's last talk with the Titans back at the Tower, and they had now explored most of the city. Both had gone to many places in the past few hours including the mall, the industrial section, which they left shortly afterwards, the surrounding plains, and lastly the video arcade. Terra, feeling far bolder than her brother, decided to take on the _Video Arcade_ challenge to achieve the high score on every game and win prize money. With a lot of practice, and the unexpected support of her brother, she won.

The runner-up, infuriated that he had lost to a rookie, began accusing Terra of cheating and with the help of a little bribery, got them kicked out. Terra pulled Terran out of the arcade before he could start a fight, one that she knew he'd win, therefore saving the guy's life.

"Don't sweat it bro," Terra told him. "It just goes to show that we're better than him, and that he takes games _way_ to seriously."

Terran irritably accepted his sister's proposal, but could tell that she would have loved for him to knock the guy's lights out. They moved on for awhile before stopping at a local convince store. Terra then suggested that they should bring the Titans something to eat when they got back and her brother agreed.

"Let's see, what should we get," Terra asked herself. She went through the different variety of chips, candy bars, and sodas until she had a basket full of at least two things for everyone.

"You want anything bro," Terra asked her brother, who was two aisle away.

"Just pick me up a soda or something," he replied. Something had his attention fixed, she could tell. She carelessly went up and down the meter high aisles, keeping an eye on her brother. As she got closer, she thought she saw his lips moving. Terran's eyes shifted and Terra quickly looked away. She could feel his eyes on her and Terra did her best to seem interested in looking for more items to buy.

Terra risked a glance and was relieved to see Terran moving away. She moved to an aisle parallel to him and saw his lips moving again. A haunting feel overcame her. Was he talking to Slade? A lump formed in her throat as she turned the idea over an over again. He could have been lying to her the whole time; after all he was exceptionally good at it. He had fooled the Titans for a month without them ever suspecting a thing. Terra was so wrapped up in the idea that she failed to notice Terran moving towards her.

"Yo Terra," he said, shaking her a little. "You ok?"

Terra snapped out of her daze and shook her head. "Yeah I'm fine," she lied, trying not to make eye contact. Terran looked at her from the corner of his eye, and then lead her towards the counter. "Come on, let's get going."

Terra made sure she didn't stare at her brother for to long as to not arose suspicion as she made her purchase. The cashier was kind enough to give them their purchase for free once he recognized Terra as a member of the Teen Titans. They left the store soon after and made their way back to the coast.

"Hey bro, not to be nosey or anything but why were you talking to yourself," Terra said as she shifted the bag betweens arms, finally gaining the courage to ask him. She waited for her brother's reply, or at least acknowledgement that he heard her. When he didn't Terra turned to him and said: "Bro?"

"What?"

"Why were you talking to yourself back there?"

"Is that why you were staring at me," Terran asked.

"I asked you first," Terra countered, seeing that he was delaying.

"Geez Terra, haven't you ever seen someone thinking out loud," Terran retorted. He shifted back-and-forth between each leg as he and Terra continued to stand in the middle of the sidewalk.

"Ok," Terra finally submitted.

Terra turned back around and headed towards the coast. They didn't talk much on the way back, and the silence was getting to Terra. Finally she couldn't stand it and looked back to her brother to try and start up another conversation.

"Hey Terran, just a quick-"

She stopped cold when she saw Terran was munching on a chocolate bar. He had never even touched the bag since they left the store and Terra could not recall ever buying that item.

"Terran, where did you get that," she asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"We bought it remember," Terran answered.

Terra reached into the bag and pulled out the receipt. She looked over it once and held it in front of his face. "No we didn't," she snapped. Her eyes narrowed. "You stole it didn't you."

"Of course not," Terran snapped back. "Man Terra, you guys just like to accuse me of everything don't you."

"Then where did you get it?"

"What does it matter?"

"TERRAN!"

Terra crushed the receipt in her hands as her anger rose. Terran, likewise, was losing his patience. But instead of continuing the back and forth argument with his sister, his eyes dimmed and he slumped his shoulders.

He sighed and tossed the rest of the bar into the sewer. "Alright you got me, I did steal it ok." He stepped past his sister, heading back to the Tower. "I'm sorry, alright. That's why I was talking to myself, trying to decided whether I should do it or not."

Before Terran could go any farther, his sister caught up to him. He looked very depressed and disappointed in himself. "Bro, why'd you do it? You're supposed to be a good guy now."

Terran halted and looked at his sister. "That doesn't change the fact about how I was raised. The only reason I can do good sometimes was that short period in my life were I could just be another person."

Terra placed her hand on his shoulder. "The 'Brotherhood', right."

Terran nodded. "I was raised to be a villain. Stealing and hurting others is all I know, and all I'm good at." Terra could see in his eyes that this was something he had to deal with on a daily bases. She couldn't image how hard it could be for someone who had to decide what to do with their life. Do what they thought was right, or do the only thing they knew how to.

"Don't worry bro, I won't tell."

_Titans Tower East_

_Common Room…_

All the Titans had gathered around the table on the top floor of the common room, except for Mas and Menos who had gone to search for the missing Aqualad and Speedy. The Titans had completed their search of the Tower, and had compiled any and all evidence concerning Terran. They had almost gone through all the evidence for the third time in the past hour.

"So, the attacks in Jump City are near identical to the times Terran left the Tower," Raven stated.

"But, that still doesn't give Terran enough time to go from Steel City and back to make all those times," Cyborg countered.

Bumblebee set down a data pad for the other Titans to see. "You forget that Terran's communicator disconnects itself from the mainframe, kind of suspicious if you ask me," she added to Raven's evidence.

Beast Boy brushed aside the data pad and set down a gray duffel bag onto the table. "But there's no way for him to taper with it. None of the equipment that could rewire the communication package and the only thing he has in his room is a bunch of laundry."

Beast Boy felt his hair flatten as the cybernetic teenager seated next to him patted him on the head. The changeling swatted the hand away and saw his friend with a peculiar smile. "What?"

"Congrads BB, you actually said something smart," Cyborg chuckled. Beast Boy growled but refused to make a comeback.

"Maybe Slade got into the spine of metal in Terran's back," Starfire spoke up, in very choppy grammar.

The leader of Titans East shook her head. "Impossible, when we found Terran all evidence of the implant had been removed. He's one hundred percent human."

"This means," Cyborg countered, "someone got to him first, someone like Slade. He could have done something to Terran before he set him loose."

No one argued with this point. All eyes turned to the boy wonder who had not said a word since the discussion began. "Robin," Raven asked, "do you have something to add."

Robin looked over his teammates once, then the evidence. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table. "Yes I do," he answered, his voice serious and determined. "All the evidence is here, and all of it points to Terran, especially seeing him attack us in Jump City." He looked back to his teammates and continued. "This is definitely Slade's handiwork, no doubt about it. But I think there's more to this than we're seeing."

"Like what," said Cyborg.

"Maybe we're not seeing the big picture. After all this is Slade we're talking about, and I've had years of experience tracking him," Robin continued.

"What are you getting at," asked Raven.

"Alright, tell me. What is the one thing that makes Terran special? In fact, what's the one thing that separates Terran and Terran from any other superhero or villain," Robin asked his teammates.

The Titans thought this over for some time. Robin sat back and waited for his teammates to figure it out, and was somewhat disappointed in how long it was taking them.

"They're…both…blond," guessed Beast Boy.

Robin was about to criticize Beast Boy for his guess when he stopped. Beast Boy was right. Robin had never thought about it before, but Terran and Terra were the _only_ blond superheroes, at least the ones he knew.

"Yes," Robin mumbled, "they are both blond, but that's not what I was getting at."

"WOHOO," the changeling cheered, "I knew something Robin didn't!"

"Beast Boy, get back on track," snapped Raven. "Before I give us a reason to-"

Raven was halted by Starfire's sudden gasp. She had her hand clamped over her mouth, her emerald eyes wide open. "You mean…" she began.

"Yes, their powers," finished Robin. The other Titans groaned in frustration.

Cyborg slapped his forehead. "Ah man, I can't believe I didn't think of that."

"It all makes since now," said Raven. "We have been tricked."

"I know," the changeling concurred. "I was so wrapped up about being attacked by Terran I didn't notice the one we were fighting never used his powers."

"…And the one here was," Robin concluded. The boy wonder smiled, knowing that his teammates were now seeing the situation in a different light. Robin's knowledge of Slade's tactics had once again proved invaluable.

"So we're all agreed, Terran is innocent," Robin asked. His teammates nodded. "Good," Robin said as he got up from the table and left. The door to the hallway slid open, allowing Robin to exit. Now that they had pieced together a part of the puzzle that had stumped them for so long, now it was time to wonder. If Slade was using this as a decoy, what was his real objective?

_Slade's Lair…_

The double-steel door slid apart, disappearing into the wall. Their seams molded into the wall, becoming as invisible as their creator was in shadow. The master criminal, Slade, stepped through them and was placed inside the entrance hall. An enormous beam of light was casting long shadows throughout the cavernous room as the large elevator door above vanished from sight.

An old man was the only occupant of the darkening room. He had snowy white hair but not much of it due to his growing bald spot on the top of his head. He was thin and looked as though he'd be snapped in half from a windstorm. His nose was larger than normal, giving him a vulture like appearance which was amplified by his white tuxedo. Despite all his ghastly features, he was as kind as a grandfather, always ready to pour a cup of tea to anyone who asked.

Slade approached the man, his stride more friendly than commanding. The man saw Slade approach, and gave warming smile. "Ah, on time as usual," the man chuckled.

Slade nodded and halted a few feet from him. "I wish the same could be said for you old friend," Slade replied. "You're late."

The old man ignored the comment and inspected the room before turning back to Slade. "Honestly Slade, I leave for a few months and look what happens to the place," he joked.

Slade placed his hand on the man's shoulder and led him out of the room. "You can blame my new apprentice for that," Slade joked.

"Teenager?"

"Of course, who else could make such a mess?"

Before long, they had made their way back to Slade's throne room. The man once again inspected the room and nodded in approval. "At least this room is well kept," he said as he ran his finger along the wall, searching for dust. "Though I can't say I favor the location. Why choose this place?"

Slade sat down in his throne and rested his arms along the armrest. He gripped the edge of the right armrest, activating a control panel hidden on the underside. A large monitor snapped on, illuminating the room in a wavering blue light.

"I thought it'd be fitting," he said as he used the other buttons to cycle through the different video feeds, "considering the circumstances of my plan."

The old man looked at Slade from the corner of his eye. His chin tightened and he looked to the flashing images being displayed across the monitors. "So, I take it that everything is going well."

Slade nodded and leaned back in his throne when he found the feed he was looking for. "Oh, it is going far better than I had hoped," he answered. "The Titans are trying so hard to figure out what I'm up to, trying so hard to make sense of all the information I've laid for them." Slade let out a sigh of satisfaction. "They are failing to see the answer, even when it's right in front of them." Slade tapped the fast-forward button on his chair and watched the feed cycle at inhuman speed. It sped through hour after hour of footage until it came to halt at the current time.

The image was of the Titans Tower in Steel City, coming closer with each passing second. Slade tapped another button, and the screen split in half to show two different perspectives of the Tower, one from the base, and the other from a higher angle.

"So," the man began, "how is my 'nephew' doing?"

"Nothing out-of-the-ordinary," Slade replied. "Mainly trying to persuade the Titans to believing he's innocent…rather laughable really."

"So I take it the mission is going perfectly."

"Oh, it's going far better than I'd hope."

"Indeed," the man nodded. He looked back to the screen, and after a short time of consideration he turned back to his old friend. "Slade, I've been going over your plan, and…" the man stopped, trying to select his choice of words. "…are you sure about this. You know the risks involved."

Slade paused the tape and turned to the man. His expression was indistinguishable, but there was certain tenseness to his posture. "Quite sure," Slade replied, slightly irritated by his old friend's lack of confidence. "Quite sure, Wintergreen."

_Titans Tower East…_

Terran and Terra entered the elevator, both somewhat uneasy yet comforted at the same time. Their comfort came from having been around the city for the past four hours and felt like they were once again brother and sister instead of two fighting individuals. Terra could tell her brother was far more comfortable being around her and she was starting to trust him more than she had.

Their uneasiness came from having to return to the Tower. Terra was worried that her friends had discovered that Terran truly was behind the attacks and not one of Slade's tricks. Terran had the same fears, but he was also uneasy at having to be around a large group of people again, this was due to his seclusion in the 'Brotherhood' where he had little to no long term human contact aside from the main members.

The elevator came to a halt around the midsection of the Tower and they stepped out. Before Terra could get far, she was stopped when she realized Terran wasn't following her. His head was hung, and he was twiddling a piece of string between his gloved fingers.

"Something wrong," she asked, making her way back to him. Terran let out a long sigh, and instead of answering he stepped past his sister and made his way down the hall. "Bro?"

She followed him through the rectangular hallways still under construction until he stopped at door a few minutes later. He touched the control panel and the door slid open to reveal a gray, barren room.

Terran looked back to his sister and said: "Terra…thanks."

Terra returned a smile. "Anytime."

Terran looked back to his room and out the window. The sky was growing darker and the clock hung on the wall read 7:37 P.M. "It's getting late," he said as he entered the room. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you then," Terra replied with a smile just as the door. Once it was closed she headed back to the elevator. The trip to the top seemed short, and soon Terra found herself once again in the common room. Scattered around the room where the other Titans, doing their own various tasks. Beast Boy was the first to notice her return and hurried up to the balcony to greet.

"Hey Terra, how'd it go," he said cheerfully, wrapping his fingers between hers.

Terra placed the bag of groceries on the table and hugged her boyfriend in return. "It went great; I really think he enjoyed it."

"Good, cause we've got our own bit of news for you."

Terra let go of his hand and back away slightly. She looked Beast Boy up and down, afraid of what he was about to tell. "You…do," she said, hesitation in her voice.

By this time, the rest of the Titans had gathered around Terra and she began to feel trapped. Robin was the first to step forward and explain.

"Well as you already know, we did a bit of investigating…"

"…And we found some pretty suspicious stuff," Cyborg added.

"Which at the time made Terran the culprit undoubtedly," Raven added to Cyborg's statement.

"But once we gathered all the clues, not all of it fit together perfectly…" Bumblebee explained.

"…so we've come to the conclusion," Robin picked up.

"HE'S INNOCENT," Beast Boy exclaimed.

It took a full three seconds for Terra to absorb it all, but once she did she let out a whoop and gave Beast Boy and crushing hug. She refused to let him go until he turned blue and fainted.

"Are you guys serious," she said ecstatically. "He _really_ is innocent."

Robin rubbed his chin as he looked over the unconscious Beast Boy lying before him. "We're pretty sure. Everything seems to point to Slade either tricking us into thinking its Terran when it's really someone or something else or..."

Terra's smile faded. Her eyes drifted back and forth between each member of the Teen Titans. "Or?"

Robin sighed. "Or…Slade is giving us false clues to throw us off track, and Terran really is somehow able to be in two places at once." The room became quiet, and Terra's smile faded more and more. "But don't worry Terra, we're almost a hundred percent sure he's innocent."

Terra's spirit lifted, but not by much. She placed her arm behind her head and smiled. "Thanks guys, I guess that's good enough for me. Come on, let's go down and tell him the good news."

_Titans Tower East_

_9__th__ Floor Terran's Room…_

The door slid shut, leaving Terran cut off from the rest of the Tower. He let out a long yawn and headed over to his cot. His room was barren except for the cot, his duffel bag of extra clothes. He had lost his old backpack when he died, and all his childhood belongings with it. The rest of his room was empty and the only light came from an overhead light the open window. Terran stopped once he reached his bed. He stared the window with a confused. He didn't remember opening it, and it couldn't have blown open by itself. He walked over and closed it, and the cold breeze ceased.

Terran headed back to his bed and peeled off his worn gloves. He slumped down on his bed and buried his head into his pillow. He wanted more than anything to fall asleep right then, but he couldn't. His mind was running like mad, recalling all the events of the day, and at every turn coming back to the voice.

That voice nagged at him like a fly buzzing around his face. No matter how hard he tried to place it to a face, the answer still eluded him. But he knew he had heard the voice before, somewhere long ago.

Before he could press into his past any longer, there was a knock at the door. He lifted his head up and stared at the clock lying on the floor. It showed he had been resting for over an hour.

_Maybe I did fall asleep_, Terran thought to himself as he lifted himself off the bed. He quickly patted down his hair, feeling that some of it was sticking out to the side. He went to the door and opened it. His eyes snapped opened when he saw the Titans, including his sister, from Jump City outside his doorway.

"Um…hi," said Terran, wondering what they wanted.

Terra stepped to the front and smiled. "Hey bro, mind if we come in?"

Terran raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "Sure, I was just sleeping."

The Titans filed in and Terran went over to his cot and sat down. Each Titan took up their own position somewhere in the room. Robin stood near the far wall with Starfire by his side, Raven stayed near the door, Cyborg propped himself against the closet door, and Beast Boy and Terra stood hand-in-hand near the window.

Seeing Beast Boy holding Terra's hand caused a rising anger in Terran. He felt his stomach churn, and his blood begin to boil. He tried to reason with himself, mainly to figure out why he was suddenly angry at the green changeling. He had known the two had had a relationship before and would undoubtedly have another in the future, so he was confused at why he suddenly seemed hostile towards the idea.

"Terran?"

Terran snapped back to reality and turned his attention back to Robin. Apparently he had been staring angrily at the couple and had drawn the attention of the leader of the Teen Titans.

"Oh, sorry about that. I was just…" Terran mumbled, "Never mind."

Robin looked between his two teammates and Terran before continuing. Beast Boy and Terra shrugged and Robin nodded in reply. "Ok Terran, I guess you know we're here for more than just to say hi."

"And I also guess that its good news or I'd be in cuffs by now," Terran smirked.

"Correct," said Robin. "It is good news."

"Well let's hear it," Terran rushed, his eagerness getting the best of him.

Robin let out a quarter smile. "Well, we've decided that maybe you were telling the truth. That you are innocent."

Terran immediately stood up and held his arms to his sides. "So, you guys believe me. That I'm a good guy."

"Correct."

"Told ya bro," Terra smiled.

Terran couldn't believe what he was hearing. For once in his life someone actually believed him the first time around. Though he wouldn't show it, he almost felt like crying. Seeing that Terran wasn't going to say anything, Robin stepped forward with his hand outstretched.

"Well, on behalf of all of us. I'd like to apologize for the way we-"

Robin stopped short when a floorboard shifted beneath his foot, almost causing Robin to fall in. All the occupants of the room snapped to attention and stared with great interest at the unearthed floorboards.

"Hello," Cyborg exclaimed.

Robin removed the floorboard completely and dug his hands inside. "I thought you guys said you searched through everything," Robin snapped, directing this towards Beast Boy and Cyborg.

"We did," they replied.

Robin dug in farther until his hand brushed a leather exterior. He clenched it in his hand and pulled it up for all to see. Everyone gasped as Robin held before them, and black and gray suit. An exact match to the ones that Slade's drones wore, and the one they had seen Terran wear a week before.

All eyes turned to Terran. He was dumbstruck, frozen in place. His limbs were shaking and his mouth was agape. "That's…but…no I'm…" he babbled.

"Terran," Terra said with a quivering lip. "You said you weren't…"

Terran looked at his sister, then the other Titans in horror. He rushed to Robin and snatched the suit away from him. He then found an opening and struggling with the stretchy material to put it on. Once he finally got his limps into the corresponding pant and arm holes, he showed the rest of the Titans. The suit was saggy on his body, and flopped around like spaghetti.

"You see, it can't be mine," Terran begged. "Its to big for me, there's no way I could-"

He stopped short when he felt the suit shrink, wrapping around his body like a second skin. The Titans had had enough. Each member, except for Robin, stepped towards the door, but not without giving Terran one last hateful glare.

"No wait, I can explain," Terran pleaded. "Please you have to believe me!"

No one responded, everyone but Robin was already halfway out the door. Before exiting, Terra looked back to Terran. Her saddened expression turned to one of anger and sneered. "It trusted you."

Terran was about to run to her, but Robin stepped in the way and pushed him down onto the cot. "Don't think you're going anywhere," he said, quickly cuffing Terran's wrists. "You're a criminal, and will be treated as such. I hereby arrest you, Terran."

Terran was about to protest, but felt no use in fighting. He closed his eyes and felt his eyes well up. He then hung his head between his legs, stroking his knees with his hands, and wallowed in his sorrow.


	10. Chapter 9

_My apologize for the month long wait. I was busy working on mid-terms for school and had little time for this. So to make up for it I created one of the longest chapters I've ever written. 19 pages, and 7,948 words of action and angst. Well I won't keep you guys any longer, and remember I encourage everyone to review. Merry Christmas to all my readers, this is my present to you!_

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Chapter 9

Two-Faced Assassin

Thin, tight, steel-like cuffs covered Terran's forearms in an unbreakable bond. He scratched at his wrist where the cuffs locked his arms together. Though the strange metallic material he was wearing kept the cuffs from coming into contact with his skin, he felt the weight they bore.

He looked up to the only window overlooking his cell. No one was there, they had all abandoned him. What was the use trying to convince them he was innocent? They had found all they needed to prove their point.

Terran hung his head in despair and covered his head with his conjoined wrists. He ran his fingers through his spike blond hair, trying to calm himself.

"Why'd you do it?"

Terran was almost startled by the voice, but he recognized to whom it belonged to. He brought his hands back down and lifted his head to see his sister looking down on him from the window.

"Why are you helping him?"

Terran sneered. "I see that trust of yours only extends so far." He stood up and stepped forward a few paces. His brow furrowed as he snapped: "A shame that it doesn't apply to your own twin brother."

"Just answer the question…please," she asked again.

"Why should I, I'm sure the others will figure out some excuse."

"Terran, we aren't doing this because we want to," she retorted. "We're doing it because you forced us to."

"FORCED YOU TO? YOU GUYS LOCKED ME UP JUST BECAUSE I HAD THIS OUTFIT," Terran snapped, his face beginning to turn red.

"AN OUTFIT THAT HAPPENED TO BE THE ONE YOU WERE WEARING WHEN YOU ATTACKED US," Terra snapped back, her face becoming equally red, frustrated by Terran's stubbornness.

Terran clenched his fist and looked as though he was about to burst into a fit of rage. He shuffled his feet around for a few moments, biting his lips so he wouldn't start yelling. He then looked back up at his sister and said: "Terra, you said you trusted me. You said you believed me!"

"I did," Terra replied angrily. "But then this happened and now I don't know!"

Terran lowered his head so Terra could barely see his eyes looking at her through his blond hair. "So you don't trust me anymore huh? Figures since you're so desperate to be accepted by them." From the look on his sister's face he could tell that he had struck home. "Doesn't matter anyways, I'm going to get out of here one way or another."

Terra's hurt expression turned to one of shock. "Terran do you have any idea what that would do to our trust."

Terran lowered his lip and spoke in an almost child-like voice. "But Terra, you guys don't trust me in the first place. So I might as well act like your delusional expectancy."

She matched her gaze with his and the two became locked in a bitter stare-down. For several minutes neither one of them moved nor spoke to one another, only continuing to try and make the other break. Finally Terran couldn't hold his gaze and turned away, grumbling under his breath bitterly. In a way she had won a small battle with him, hopefully one that would convince him to open up more. She placed her hand against the Plexiglas, as if reaching out to him. Terran saw the gesture but turned his back to her and moved towards the far side of the cell.

"Fine, I can see you don't want to talk," she said, removing her hand from the window, "than I don't either." She spun on her heel and headed for the door. She couldn't discern why she felt like she was betraying him; he was the one turning against them.

_He's the one at fault_, Terra told herself, _not me, he's the one who should feel guilty_.

She entered the hallway where Beast Boy was waiting for her. The changeling looked hopeful, but was disappointed when his girlfriend shook her head.

"It didn't go well," he said, stating the obvious.

"He's as stubborn as ever," Terra grumbled, "I don't see why he just won't confess; I mean we caught him didn't we."

"Yeah," he agreed. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and the two headed back upstairs. "Your brother's pretty good about keeping secrets. He's also good at acting like someone he's not."

This news only added to Terra's depressed state. Her entire life with her brother had been one long rollercoaster. Always up and down, never the same or peaceful for long periods of time. Raven was right, she didn't know him. She could only wonder what happened to him during his allegiance to the 'Brotherhood of Evil', and what was happening now that caused Terran to side with Slade, the Teen Titans arch nemesis. She had always secretly hoped that there was a part of him that hadn't been touched; a part of him that still remained the same Terran she had known as a child. But slowly the chances of that being true seemed less and less likely.

Terra had been so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she barely noticed the trip back to the room she was staying in. She practically walked into the door, but was saved from such a fate when Beast Boy pulled her back.

"Terra, you okay?" he said.

Terra snapped back to reality and brushed a strand of her blond hair from her face. "Oh me, uh…yeah I'm fine," she said sheepishly.

"No you're not," he replied stubbornly. "You almost walked into a door. Do you want me to stay with you for awhile? We could just talk."

Terra shook her head and leaned against the door. "No I'm okay, I just want to be alone for awhile."

The door the geomancer was leaning on sensed the pressure she was applying to it, and suddenly slid open, causing her to fall flat on her back. Beast Boy quickly rushed to her and held out his hand. Terra, who was now flat on her back, was biting her lip and looking quite irritated.

"Uh, are you sure-" Beast Boy began.

"Yes," Terra quickly answered and picked herself off the floor without his help, "I'm fine." She brushed her off her shirt and shorts before quickly escaping into the room before Beast Boy could say anything more.

Beast Boy stood outside her door for a few seconds before turning to leave. He was somewhat hurt by Terra's sudden change of attitude and rudeness to him. He shook off the feeling, knowing that she was only acting this way because of how her day had gone from good to bad.

There was quick shuffle behind him and he turned just in time for Terra to plant on kiss on his cheek. Beast Boy was stunned for a moment but regained his composure shortly after. They both stood there for a moment in silence, with faces turning red for reasons unknown reasons, until Terra spoke up

"Sorry," she said sheepishly, "Don't take what I said the wrong way, it's just been a hard day for me."

"Yeah," Beast Boy agreed, his face turning back to its normal shade of green. "I wasn't holding it against you."

Terra smiled and they both shared a quick embrace before heading back to their own rooms. The thoughts of what would become of Terran lingered in their heads.

_13__th__ Floor _

_Holding Cell_

_Several Hours Later…_

Terran lied down on his back and tried to position his arms in such a way that they were comfortable with the handcuffs on. He rolled back and forth, trying to find a position that was comfortable. After several minutes he gave up.

He picked himself up and sat cross-legged. He had difficulty staying in the position because the elastic-armor he was wearing caused his legs to have zero-friction when rubbed together. He finally gave up and sat with his legs out to either side.

He tried widening the distance between his arms, but found the cuffs would not yield. He thrashed his arms around in frustration before slamming them down onto the floor, to his dismay there was no dent. It was official, his outfit, the handcuffs, and the cell were the perfection combination of torture to drive him crazy.

"I have _got_ to get out," Terran growled, "or this place'll drive me insane."

"_**Sorry, you ain't getting out anytime soon**_."

Terran snapped to attention and turned to the window on the floor above him. Speedy, who was sitting in a chair with his legs propped up upon the table, was looking down to him.

"Where have you been," Terran demanded. "No one's seen you for hours."

Speedy smiled ominously. "_**Oh…me and Aqualad were just finishing up putting embarrassing spit-takes of the Titans on the internet**_."

"So that's what the cameras were for?"

"_**Yup. We got some pretty good ones, especially the one with Cyborg blowing the bottom off of his cup. I'd show you buuuttt…you're kind of locked up here**_," Speedy finished, popping a potato chip into his mouth. "_**By the way, thanks for the chips**_."

_Locked up_, Terran chuckled to himself. _Not for long_.

_Titans Tower East_

_Rooftop…_

Starfire floated over to Robin's side. A serious look was etched across his face and his arms were folded across his chest. He was staring out into the ocean deep in thought; he didn't even notice her approaching.

"Robin," she said softly, setting down a foot away from him, "it is the clock of twelve. You should be asleep."

"I know," he said, not even turning to look at her. "I just can't sleep. Everything that's happened so far won't get out of my head long enough for me to have some peace."

"You are still trying to figure out what Slade is up to?"

He nodded, letting out a long irritated breath. "I just can't stop. Every time something starts to make sense, another clue is thrown into the mix." Robin unfolded his arms and looked down to the sea. "It's almost like-"

Suddenly a large explosion rocked the Tower. A giant fireball was sent spiraling into the sky and a section of the Tower collapsed into the cliff-side. Robin staggered backwards, and yelled as he lost his footing and fell off the side of the Tower. Starfire quickly leapt over the side and intercepted him just as he was passed where the two parts of the T bisected. She scooped him up in her arms and shielded them both from the burning debris that rained down around them.

Just then a second explosion erupted, much smaller than the first one, but caused another section of the Tower to break off from the rest. It fell from the rest of the Tower as the steel girders melted under the immense heat, and it fell right for Starfire and Robin.

Starfire was now faced with two nearly impossible choices. She could either blast the chunk with her star bolts, which might intern cause a loose fragment to smash into the mid-section of the Tower, therefore causing more damage. Or she could try to fly around it, possible being caught by more falling debris.

Neither of those options suited her, so she decided on another one. She gripped Robin tightly and looked towards the Tower.

"Robin," she said, "duck the head."

Robin was about to question when he suddenly found himself yelling at the top of his lungs as Starfire rocketed them both into the Tower just in time to miss the falling section of the Tower. They smashed through the Plexiglas window and barrel rolled through three other walls until they finally came to a halt as they collided into the wall of the gym. Starfire fell away from Robin and landed on the floor unconscious. Robin rolled to his feet and quickly knelt by Starfire's side.

Robin pressed his fingers against her neck and was relieved when he felt a strong pulse. She was badly bruised from the impact but he was sure she'd fine. After all, Tamarneans were known for the durability. Now that he knew that she'd be fine, he's only priority was getting them both to the higher levels and figuring out what had just transpired.

_13__th__ Floor…_

Cyborg found it nearly impossible to navigate through the smoke, even with his cybernetic eye. Thermal would do him no good, the entire floor was a burning inferno, so he'd have to use another setting. He quickly cycled through each setting until he found one that gave him better visibility.

Farther down the hall he saw three other figures and he quickly caught up with them. Bumblebee, Terra, and Beast Boy were ducking behind a fallen support beam. They turned at the sound of his approach, and beckoned him closer.

"What happened here," Cyborg shouted over the flames. The others had a hard time hearing him, so Cyborg had to repeat it in their ears one at a time.

"No idea," Bumblebee replied.

"Yeah," said Beast Boy right after Bumblebee had finished, "me and Terra were sleeping and the next thing we know _BOOM!_"

"Well, then let's go find out," Cyborg told the others.

He stepped out of his cover and deployed his sonic cannon. He began firing at the flames, but as soon as he stopped firing the flames returned. They would have to move fast if they weren't going to get caught in the flames.

Cyborg motioned for the others to follow, and he began laying down fire on the flames. They sprinted for several minutes, barely getting licked by the ever-growing flames. Cyborg was surprised that the sprinkler system hadn't kicked in, but he guessed that the Titans East hadn't reinstalled them yet. They charged through the sea of fire and were almost to the other end of the hall when the roof collapsed behind them, blocking their retreat.

When the roof collapsed, it brought the flames burning upstairs down to their floor, increasing the intensity of the inferno. Cyborg tried to quell the growing flames but was quickly losing the advantage.

"This is it," Beast Boy cried as he and Terra held onto one another. "We're not gonna"!

"We _will _make it," Cyborg protested. "We haven't bashed our way through hordes of bad guys just to put down by campfire."

Beast Boy ducked his head as the fires lashed out at him and braced for the coming fire. But instead of feeling his skin melt away, he felt rather cool. Beast Boy opened his eyes to see that the world had had its colors inverted. Everything was black and outlined in white. The changeling quickly recognized this as a shield cast by the sorceress member of the team. And sure enough, Raven was hovering in the center of the group keeping the fires at bay.

"What took you so long," Beast Boy shouted irritably.

Raven looked back at him menacingly. "If I took so long than I guess I can let you endure the flames for just a little longer."

Beast Boy glanced from side-to-side and rubbed the back of his neck. "No thanks I'm good."

"Good, then I suggest we make our way to the holding cell, that's where the explosion originated."

Beast Boy got up off the floor but soon received a jab in the side from his girlfriend. He looked to Terra with shock. "What was that for?"

"Be nice to her Gar, even if she is creepy and bad-tempered."

"Thanks," Raven said, glad for Terra's support for once. Raven then faced forward and whispered to herself: "I think…"

The Titans stayed within the boundaries of the shield as they progressed, pausing only when Raven had to change the shape of the shield to fit through piles of debris, until they finally reached the holding cell. The doorframe had become askew and Cyborg was forced to bring the door down with a quick blast from his cannon.

The room was covered with burn marks and fallen debris from the blast. The way everything was pointed away from the cell indicated that Raven was right; the blast had originated from this room. And Speedy, who was tasked with keeping an eye on Terran, was no where to be found.

"Speedy," Bumblebee cried as she darted over to a pile of fallen rafters that now covered what had once been the observatory.

The other Titans hurried to help her, but Terra did not. Instead she headed over to the observation window. There was only one thing that interested her right now, and it wasn't Speedy's safety.

Meanwhile, Beast Boy was busy using his gorilla form to haul off debris that the others couldn't lift, when he noticed Terra wasn't participating. He switched back to his human form so he could speak. "Hello Terra, we could use your help over her." Terra didn't respond. Beast Boy navigated towards her, being careful not to get to close to the several fires, and grabbed her shoulder. "Terra, what's up…?"

Beast Boy stopped mid-sentence when he saw her face. It was pale and was both horrified and furious. He was about to ask why she was this way, when he heard something stirring below. Beast Boy scanned the wreck cell below and saw a single silhouette casting warping shadows across the floor. It thrust one of its arms to the side, casting away a battered hulk of metal that had once been handcuffs. The silhouette turned to them to reveal itself as Terran, illuminated in a grisly orange glow.

A cruel smile etched itself onto his face, which became far more frightening by the fires. He then opened his mouth, and cruel laughter emanated from him. The other Titans stood up and were soon looking out the window like Terra and Beast Boy before them.

"Terran, are you responsible for this," Bumblebee demanded.

Terran only laughed louder. Dust was beginning to displace around him and the air wavered around him. Terran crouched down, moving his left arm to cover his face, and then leap into the air. A great gust of wind as well as smoldering ash washed over the Titans as Terran disappeared into the night sky

Bumblebee unsheathed her two B shaped sonic disruptors and clenched them tightly. "You can mooch off of us," she growled, anger unseen before rising within her. "You can deceive. You can blow up our Tower, but when you try to kill one of my teammates, one of my friends…ITS GO TIME!"

Bumblebee kicked off and shot into the sky, small contrails tracing her path. She swung around and raced after Terran. Cyborg, Raven, Terra, and Beast Boy were unsure of what to do next. They had never seen Bumblebee express that amount of anger before, and quite frankly it scared them a little.

"Uh," Beast Boy began, "do you think she'll be okay on her on. Cause quite frankly I wouldn't want to cross path right now."

"No, we've got to help her," Cyborg replied. He turned to face his teammates and gave them each their own separate orders. Terra and Raven were to help Bumblebee take down Terran, while he and Beast Boy searched for the other Titans and would meet up with them in the city thereafter.

They all agreed on the plan and broke into their separate groups. Raven and Terra took off into the sky and stopped several meters above the cliff face. They scanned the city, looking for any signs of where Terran had fled.

"Raven?"

Raven stopped her searched, and looked to Terra. "What?"

"Are you going to be okay," Terra said, rubbing her shoulder. "Ya know, fighting him and all."

"I'm not sure I understand."

"Well, he did…break your heart and all, even if you don't want to admit it. I guess I'm asking that you won't go overboard."

Raven cocked an eyebrow, but did do so in a mocking way. She understood why Terra was asking this of her. But Raven wasn't the only one who needed supervision. After all, Terran was her brother. She was the one he had hurt the most.

"Alright, I won't," Raven replied steadily. "But you have to promise you won't either."

Terra smiled. "Deal."

_Steel City…_

Bumblebee spiraled widely out of control as Terran planted a firm kick into her side. She smashed straight into a concrete wall and fell to the floor in a daze. Terran, instead of attacking while she was down, veered off into the sky and took down another street.

Bumblebee, recovering from her daze, took off after him but soon lost him in the maze of streets. She swerved right and left, ducking down alley ways and moving away from streetlights. They were both on equal footing. Both lost within the city, looking for one another. It was a deadly game of cat and mouse, and Terran had the advantage. Bumblebee now wished she wasn't restricted to non-lethal weapons.

A faint whir echoed up the street and Bumblebee quickly turned to it, charging her weapons. She was confronted with an unusually empty street. Great, now he was trying to spook her. Bumblebee withdrew her weapons and turned back around, only to be met by the barrel of an energy pistol.

"Gotcha," Terran scoffed. His index finger curled around the trigger, and squeezed.

The blast barely scathed Bumblebee's hair as she ducked out of the way. Terran didn't take the time to pull off another shot; Bumblebee was to close to pull it off without her knocking off his aim. He instead fired the thrusters on the soles of his shoes and attempt to put some distance between them. The geomancer aimed down the sights of his crest-shaped pistol, trying to get a sight on the bee-imposture female but she had already closed the distance.

Bumblebee tried to strike him with a roundhouse kick, but Terran cut off power to his thrusters and dropped below her. He then quickly returned power back to his thrusters and head butted Bumblebee right in the abdomen. They both skyrocketed into the cloud layer before Bumblebee finally fell away. Droplets of condensation began to dot Bumblebee's brow while she struggled to get her lungs to take oxygen in.

Terran sped off and disappeared into a nearby blackened nimbus cloud, displacing a small sections of the cloud as he criss-crossed within it. Bumblebee fired her sonic disruptors at the cloud formation, causing it to glow a brilliant gold as the lightening-like bolts coursed through the condensed rain. The charges continued to use the condensed rain as a lightning rod, causing the cloud to begin to grow darker.

Suddenly a flash of lightning lit up the sky as it extended from the nimbus and arced back into itself. More lightning crackled and the resulting thunder was almost too much to bear this close.

The Titans East Leader put some distance between her and the electrified nimbus. She smiled to herself, satisfied with her handiwork. "Well, I guess I'll wait for that to wear off before I go looking for him," Bumblebee told herself.

The sound of a nearby aircraft echoed behind the bee-themed Titan. She turned to it just in time to see Terran erupting from bulbous cloud formation behind her, fist first.

"No need to," he cackled, his fist connecting with her face. "I'll just come to you!"

A trail of blood fell from a cut on Bumblebee's lip and began its decent to the city far below. Contrails traced the path of the geomancer and he weaved in and out of clouds to evade Bumblebee's line-of-sight. The Titans East Leader charged her sonic disruptors and began firing at any mutations in the clouds formation. There were several times when she almost hit Terran, but he quickly made course corrections, barely dodging each blast but putting an incredible amount of Gs on himself.

_How can he handle that_, Bumblebee thought, seeing Terran make a ninety-degree turn.

She fired again, hoping to intercept him. The bolt arched across the night sky, gaining speed as it went. There was no way Terran could dodge this one, he hadn't even spotted it yet.

Suddenly the thrusters on the soles of Terran's boots intensified until they completely blotted out the sight of his feet. His velocity increased until and ring of wind formed in front of his head. The ring slowly thinned as Terran passed through, moving up inch-by-inch until it cleared his feet. He had just passed the sound barrier. The bolt lashed out at him but was only caught in the wind corridor he left behind.

The geomancer arched upwards at speeds that should have been deadly to him, but he continued with the grace of an eagle. Bumblebee was stunned for a moment in disbelief at his flying, but then continued to fire, hoping to hit him. Terran led her around the night sky, drawing her fire every which way. Bumblebee struggled to keep her sights on him, when her patience finally paid off, in a rather unusual way.

Terran, after just flying around the night sky at supersonic speeds, came to a halt just a few feet away from her three-o-clock. Bumblebee brought her weapons to bear, only to find he had already out-drawn her. With lightning fast reflexes Bumblebee fired her sonic disruptors, catching him off guard.

For a moment Terran hovered in the air, stunned. He was the one who had her at the disadvantage, yet he smiled first. But then his true demeanor came to bear. A wicked smile stretched across his face as his thrusters fired, propelling him into the air. He shot upwards so fast that he cleared her firing line just before the bolt hit him, and allowing it to propel itself into the nimbus cloud that she had electrified early.

As soon as the blast entered the cloud's electromagnetic field, it created and electromagnetic connection. A bolt of lightning fused with the blast and traced it all the way back to its source, Bumblebee's sonic disruptors. The connection was almost instant and electrified Bumblebee. She glowed a brilliant gold against the night sky, making herself into a human light bulb. The shock caused her nerves to lock up, keeping her from releasing her grip on her weapons. Her wings stopped beating, and so her ability to stay up in the air stopped as well. Her decent increased as gravity worked harder to bring her back down to the ground, but the electromagnetic connection remained as strong as ever. She would die on impact.

Terran scoffed at her helplessness, but didn't want to end the fun just yet. He brought his crescent moon shaped energy pistol to bear, and fired. The beam cut through the cold air, and knocked the sonic disruptors out of Bumblebee's hands. Though the connection was broken, Bumblebee did nothing to stop her decent, so Terran would do it for her. He fired the thrusters on the soles of his boots and quickly rocketed after Bumblebee, turning sharply so he would bisect her path of decent at a horizontal angle.

Once his speed was sufficient, he cut power from his thrusters, allowing his momentum to carry him the rest of the way. He brought his left foot forward and it slammed into her face as the collided. Because Terran had far greater velocity, they moved in the direction he was coming in from, and would be heading straight in a forty story office building.

They both crashed through an office window, shattering it as they did and causing glass to shower anyone unlucky enough to be within a ten foot radius. They passed through several cubicles before Terran slammed his foot down, smashing Bumblebee into the carpeted floor with tremendous force. The geomancer continued to fly towards the opposite side of the office until he grasped the floor with his hand and dug his fingers in to slow his speed.

His fingers created long impression in the floor as he skidded to a stop a few feet from the window opposite from the one he had come crashing through. Terran removed his fingers from the floor, flexing them as he did. His knuckles popped as they snapped back into their sockets.

After he was satisfied that his hand was still in fighting condition, he turned his attention back to his opponent. She lay motionless in a small crater that had formed from his blow. Though she wasn't moving, he could see her breathing ever-so slightly. He would put an end to that soon enough.

Terran upholstered his energy pistol, examining it with satisfaction. He then sneered as he aimed it at the fallen Titans East Leader fired. Or at least that's what he would have done if a large boulder hadn't propelled itself at him from the direction he had entered the building. The office staff still on that floor scattered as the boulder smashed through several support pillars before finally ricocheting off in Terran's direction.

Terran performed a back flip, finding a handhold on the underside as he circled back around, and grabbed hold. The boulder crashed through the window and sailed away, dragging Terran along with it. Terran used her current momentum to swing back upright and launch himself back into the office. Terran turned to face his attackers. They were the only two females still in the office, and the only ones standing their ground. The geomancer recognized them both instantly. One of them was Terra, his identical twin sister, and the other Raven, a gothic obsessed girl he had had a crush on a few months prior. But those were no reasons to _not_ fight them.

Terran charged at them, guns at the ready and attempted to strike Terra with one, and sideways motion to land a kick on Raven. This caught the two heroines by surprise and they quickly scattered. Terran, who was already facing his sister, decided to follow up by attacking his sister first. He struck at her with both fists, and missing both times, and allowing Terra to strike at him from below. Terra brought her left arm up into an uppercut but Terran quickly leapt backwards. Terran then bent over backwards, touching the floor with both hands, and pushing off with his feet. He wrapped his ankles around Terra's neck, placing her in a scissor-lock, and launched at Raven as he returned to a standing position.

Terra spun in the air, yelling as she did, and narrowly missed Raven but collapsed and entire row of cubicles. Terra quickly jumped to her feet and took a position beside Raven but Terran had already closed the distance. But this time Raven struck first, sending a surge of dark energy at him. Terran dodged by leaping into the air and planting his feet on each of his foes shoulders. Terran snapped his legs together, knocking their heads together with a loud _thwack!_ Dazed from the blow, both heroines rocked back and forth clutching their heads, and tried to regain their sense of balance. Terran leapt away from them and soared through the air.

_Titans Tower East_

_13__th__ Floor: Holding Cell…_

Beast Boy dug through pile of rubble, his black and purple uniform soaked with sweat. He had involuntarily volunteered to stay behind and try to locate Speedy in the wrecked prison cell. Cyborg had gone off to the lower levels of the Tower to search for Aqualad, Robin, Mas and Menos. Last time he had checked in, he had found the lost Titans East members.

"Man it is really getting hot in here," Beast Boy wined as he stopped to wipe his brow.

He had been in here for the past fifteen minutes and the heat was becoming more unbearable by the minute. But he couldn't leave, not without leaving his fellow Titan behind, and he couldn't stand to have that resting on his conscious.

A familiar tune sounded from his utility belt and the changeling quickly pulled out his communicator.

"_**Find him yet**_," was Cyborg's immediate response to having his call answered.

"Not yet," Beast Boy replied, shouting to be heard over the flames. "What about you!"

"_**I finally found Robin and Star, she's banged up pretty bad but she'll survive**_," Cyborg answered. "Me and Robin are going down to the garage and making sure that the T-car's still okay. _**And if it is then we're taking Star out of the Tower and meeting up with the girls**_!"

"What about Aqualad, Mas and Menos!"

"_**They're going to stay behind and try to quell the flames. Cyborg out**_!"

The communicator screen went dark as the signal was cut. Beast Boy replaced the communicator to its rightful location and went back to work. Beast Boy's pointed ears perked up as he heard a faint groan. He immediately stopped digging and cupped his hand by his ear. He heard the groan again, this time louder.

The changeling quickly raced to where he believed the source was coming from and immediately began to dig. He removed rock after rock until he finally exposed a blackened hand. Beast Boy's heart raced as he dug faster and faster, exposing more and more of the body. The entire body was covered in sot, and Beast Boy feared that Speedy might have been right next to the explosion. Finally he lifted the rock covering Speedy's face, and stopped dead.

"What?"

_Steel City_

_Office Building…_

Terran landed feet first and drew his pistol and aimed it at the two heroines down the hall.

"Terran, just calm down for a second," said Terra, "We're not here to fight you."

Terran scoffed in disbelief, moving his weapon in her direction. "Oh, is that so?"

"Yeah," Terra replied. She turned to Raven who was standing beside her. "Right?"

Raven looked at her from the corner of her eye. She didn't understand why Terra was suddenly trying to negotiate with him, but a few seconds later she saw why. One of Terra's hands was behind her back, glowing a bright yellow but only visible from behind. Raven looked back to Terran and saw the same boulder that had been used against him floating back into striking distance of him.

"Yeah, just to talk to you." Raven moved one of her own pale hands behind her back and a dark aura formed around it. A black pool appeared beneath Terran's feet, slowly inching their way up his legs. Luckily his attention was divided between them and not to what was below them.

Terran's gaze shifted between them, studying each of their expressions. Finally, to Raven and Terra's surprise, he lowered his pistol and sighed. "Alright, I guess we can talk." He gave them both a half-smile and stepped forward. "But there's just one thing I must tell you before anything else."

Terra and Raven looked between each other, raising an eyebrow in suspicion. "What's that?"

Terran's hand suddenly snapped to his side and drew his other pistol, and he twisted around so that one pistol was facing the oncoming boulder and the other facing Terra and Raven. "I'm not an idiot!"

He fired as he circled around, creating a wide arc with the beams. The first beam gutted the boulder from stem-to-stern and it's to halves smashed harmlessly into the building. The other beam raced towards the Titans and Raven quickly extended her arm forward to create a shield around her and the geomancer's sister. Doing so caused her hold on Terran's legs to cease and he used this opportunity to fire again.

Raven, not seeing this second volley because the first had blocked her eyesight, dropped the force field and exposed her and Terra to Terran's attacks.

"Raven," Terra cried, "get down!"

Terra tackled Raven and they both rolled across the floor. The two beams grazed the heroines' heads and sliced a support beam in half. Terran charged at them while they were still down, but was suddenly levitated into the air by a mysterious force. He thrashed around in a futile attempt to quell the black aura now consuming his body. Terran turned and gazed hatefully at the sorceress who was responsible for his predicament, Raven.

Raven, now back on her feet, was smiling as she slowly closed her fist, tightening the aura around his body. Terran tried harder and to force the aura off of him, but it proved useless. The aura quickly enveloped him until only his arm remained free, but even that was slowly fading away.

"I guess we got you now," Raven snickered as she placed her hand at her side, satisfied that she had finally subdued him.

"Don't be so sure just yet," Terran shouted as he swung his arm in her direction. He pulled the trigger on his energy pistol and the beam cut across the room. Raven quickly ducked the attack and Terra did the same, bending backwards until she almost lost her balance. The beam shattered the window, sending glass to the streets below. Terran swung his arm again, this time aiming his attack at his sister. The beam cut through the air, but instead of dicing Terra into mincemeat, it cut through the floor, leaving a slender hole in the floor.

Terra finally lost her balance and fell flat on her back, but still unharmed. She sat up and cackled at her brother. "Ha, missed," she jeered as Terran's body became completely enveloped by Raven's arcane magic.

"Wasn't aiming at ya," Terran replied sarcastically.

Just then the floor beneath Terra began to groan as metal was stretched to its limits, and slowly tipped backwards. Terra let out a scream as the floor section she was lying eye broke off from the main building and tumbled down to the streets below.

Terran cackled far above. "See ya later sis!"

Terra grasped onto the edge of the floor but felt her fingers slip away. She tumbled off and outstretched her hand to bring forth a rock platform. It rocketed up to her, but she was spiraling so fast she could hardly get a grip on it. Again she fell off, but her speed had been greatly reduced. She brought it forth again, this time managing to hang on as she fell.

Before she could change the direction of the platform she felt smack against something. Terra looked over the edge to see that her platform had imbedded itself into the sidewalk. The female geomancer let out a sigh of relief and hung her head back to catch her breath. Her break soon became short lived as a speeding car raced at her, narrowly hitting her. Terra leapt out of the way as the car spun, hitting the curb and came to a screeching halt right atop her platform.

Terra brushed her hair out of her eyes and shook her senses clear. When she could see clearly she turned to the car that had almost made her road kill. She instantly recognized it as the T-car.

Cyborg slowly opened the door on the driver's side and stepped out. He looked a little shaken up and he scratched his back. "Uh, hey Terra. You ok?"

"OK," Terra screamed. "You almost killed me!"

"Yeah, my bad…"

Soon Robin stepped out of the passenger's side and stepped over to Cyborg's side of the car. He placed crossed his arms and gave Cyborg a menacing glare. "Next time, you _take_ my advice when driving."

"Alright, alright sheesh."

Robin then turned to Terra and unfolded his arms. "How are things going?"

"Not entirely good," she replied, a sign of weakness in her voice. "Terran's already beaten Bumblebee pretty bad, and he's giving me and Raven a run for our money."

"Where're they now?"

Terra pointed upwards to the gape in the side of the building where Terran had knocked her out. Robin rubbed his chin with his hand, considering his options. Then Robin looked back to Terra and said: "Think you could give us a lift?"

_Office Building_

_Thirty-Seventh Floor…_

Terran stood laughing over his fallen foe. His attacks on Terra had distracted Raven so much that he had been able to free himself and take her down. She was now lying on the floor, to weak to get back up.

Terran scoffed at her weakness, and began circling around her tauntingly. "Don't take it personally Raven, I just don't like you anymore." He leveled his energy so that it sights bared down on her head. Terran's finger curled around the trigger, but he withdrew it, wanting to drag this on a little more. His pacing began to lead away from her until he was a few yards away. "This really shouldn't come as a surprise to you guys anyways. I've been a bad guy all my life, trained to fight, living to kill. It's not like I can change just like that." He snapped his fingers to emphasize his point. He twisted his head back so that he could see her. "What's that, you're tired of hearing me talk. Well don't let me continue to bore you." He aimed his pistol at her once again, and pointed the other at Bumblebee who still remained unconscious. "I guess this is where it ends, for you anways."

He let out a one last laugh to pronounce his victory. His fingers curled around their respective triggers, and began to squeeze. Just then there was a loud explosion echoing from above and the whole floor began to shake. Terran stumbled backwards and his shots went off widely, but causing no harm. Then the ceiling exploded in a shower of concrete and a blast of blue energy with spirals circling around it smashed into Terran and pounded him into the floor. The blast did not cease and Terran felt his body pressing harder and harder into the floor until it finally gave. Terran was propelled down to the next floor, and the one after that as the blast increased its intensity. The entire building was gutted as the blast finally stopped as Terran impacted into the garage floor.

Cyborg switched his sonic cannon back to his arm attachment and touched down on the thirty-seventh floor. Terra brought Robin down to the floor on their pillar and he quickly went to Raven's side. Her condition was pretty bad, much like Starfire's. He quickly got back to his feet and looked down the gaping hole.

"Cyborg," he commanded, "let's go. We have to take him down while he's weak"

"What about me," Terra asked.

Robin looked her up and down, studying how much damage she had taken. "No, you stay here with them. You need the rest."

Before the Terra could protest, the boy wonder attached a grappling hook onto the ledge and began to rappel down. Cyborg did the same, using his extendible arm as his rope, and followed Robin down.

Terra slumped over, knowing all to well that he was right but still wanting another go at Terran. She started by moving Bumblebee beside Raven so that it would be easier keeping an eye on both of them. She found it difficult to lift Bumblebee, she was a lot heavier than she thought and at times wondered if her frail arms could handle the weight. But she finally did manage to move her, and sat down.

It wasn't until that moment that the pain from her injuries kicked in. Her arms and legs were sore and hurt to move, and her head hurt even more. She rubbed the place where her brother had smacked her head against Raven's; wincing every time she stroked it. Finally she gave up, to irritated by the pain, and tried to rest.

She barely managed to get her eyes close when she heard footsteps off to her right. She snapped awake and instinctively looked in that direction. There was only a darkened office, yet something about it seemed peculiar. She got up, her legs groaning as the bent, and wearily walked over.

She grasped the doorknob; she could feel its cool metal even through he gloves. It creaked slightly as she turned it and the door swung open. The office lights were off and the dark night sky only added to its darkness. Terra took a few glances around the office, and then slowly closed the door.

"Going somewhere?"

Terra instantly froze, leaving the door open just a crack. She opened it back up and stepped into the room. She squinted to see in the darkness, moving her hand towards the desk. She felt around until she found a lamp, and turned it on. The room became lit with a soft orange glow, and revealed a man leaning against the far wall.

Terra gasped, seeing the man for the first time. He wore a black combat suit with several gunmetal pieces of armor around his shoulders forearms and legs. His muscles were defined due to his years of training, and his face was covered by a black and bronze mask with a single eye slit.

"You," Terra cried, bringing her fist back.

The man held up his hand, delaying Terra's next action. He pushed off from the wall, and stepped right through the desk, causing his body to shift in and out of synchronization. "Do not bother dear Terra; what you see is only a hologram."

Terra returned her arm to her side and glared menacingly at the man named Slade. "What have you done to him?"

Slade cocked his head, and said as if in surprise. "Whatever do you mean?"

Terra clenched her fists, gritting her teeth. "What did you do to my brother," she demanded.

Slade let out a small chuckle and placed his arms behind his back. "I have done nothing to him. In fact I have not seen him quite some time." Slade turned his attention to the window and gazed out onto the dark city. "Tell me, how is he?"

"What do you mean 'how's is he?' he's your apprentice," Terra screamed. The only thing stopping her from tearing him to pieces was the fact that he wasn't really there.

Slade let out another chuckle; he was truly enjoying tormenting her. "It is truly sad Terra."

"What," she snapped.

"To think that you don't know your own brother. I always thought twins held a special bond. A sort of link that allows you to see into the deep recesses of one another, but I guess I was mistaken."

"Well that's a first."

Slade turned his gaze to Terra, his only eye slightly narrowed. "Indeed," he said, a slightly threatening tone to his voice. He turned around completely so that his front was facing her and she was exposed to his full height. "But that doesn't excuse the fact that you do not know him at all."

"Well I know this much, he's working for you," she snarled. Her hands instinctively began to glow bright yellow. "And I want to know what you've done to him!"

"Something that even he does not realize." He looked down on her, his gaze boring into her. "It's so simple, yet so elusive to you're petty little mind. You could never truly grasp why I have done what I have done."

The glow disappeared from her hands and Terra's face twisted in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Slade stepped closer to her and leaned forward. Even though he was merely a hologram, she still flinched as his face came to rest a few inches from hers. "You were never very bright, even from the beginning." His eye narrowed until it was barely visible and he whispered ever so softly into her ear: "So I'm just going to tell you..."

* * *

_Fun Christmas fact: Santa Clause, yes the big fat man in red, was originally a Priest named Saint Nicholas. He was a man of God and preached at a church in Turkey and earned great respected, and admiration from his town. During the time of Saint Nicholas, young girls were sold to child slavery in order to get money to support thier family. Saint Nicholas during the Christmas season would go around at night, laying clothing and other assorted gifts to help the family so they would not resort to selling off their daughters. And that is how the legend of Santa Clause became a part of the Christmas season. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night._


	11. Chapter 10

_Happy New Years Everyone!_

* * *

Chapter 10

Truth Be Told

_Office Building_

_Garage…_

Robin landed in a crouch and unsheathed his Bo-staff. He scanned the darkened garage, but there was no sign of Terran. He motioned with his hand for Cyborg to follow. Cyborg leapt down, causing a small echo to sound throughout the room, and deployed his flashlight from his shoulder. It was the only light source in the whole garage beside the gaping hole above them, so it was difficult to see more than a dozen yards ahead of them. The fact that there were so many cars park below didn't make their search any easier.

The boy wonder stepped over to a place where the concrete had been cracked, and a small body impression lay imbedded into it. This is where Terran had impacted, but where was he. That fall, along with the force of the sonic blast, should have incapacitated for some time. Something wasn't right Terran couldn't have had the energy to walk away. There was no way he could have regained the strength to move in the short amount of time it took he and Cyborg to rappel down here.

"Robin!"

The boy wonder quickly pulled a one-eighty and looked to where Cyborg's light was shining. It illuminated a black sports car and its shadow was cast against the car right next to it. But it was not only the car's shadow painted upon the other car, but also two small abnormalities in the shape. It was obvious Terran was hidden behind it.

Cyborg looked to Robin, and winked. Robin got the message and retracted his Bo-staff. Cyborg in turn shut off his light. He and Cyborg then moved to opposite sides of the car and prepared to strike. Cyborg held up five fingers, and slowly brought them down into his palm. Soon only his mechanical index finger was left, and he pointed to the car.

"Now!"

Cyborg grabbed the trunk of the car and tossed the entire car off to the side. Robin lifted his Bo-staff above his head, extending it to its full length, and was about to bring it down on Terran when he stopped short.

"What that," Cyborg said, stating what Robin was thinking at that very moment.

Cyborg turned his light back on to give them better visibility to see if Terran was hiding in the shadows. But he wasn't, there was nothing behind the car except empty space…and a gray glove. Robin cocked his head as he examined the glove. It was defiantly one of Terran's, which meant…

"Cyborg, MOVE," Robin ordered.

Suddenly there was a loud bang behind them and Robin quickly jumped back. A white Chevy came flying out of nowhere and impacted where Robin had been seconds earlier. Sadly Robin's luck did not extend to his cybernetic friend. The Chevy hit Cyborg full force and sent him slamming into a nearby concrete wall.

"Okay," came Cyborg's muffled voice, "I'm gonna feel that in the morning."

Robin was about to run to his aid when he heard nearby laughter. Robin quickly spun around to see his foe standing atop a car across the garage. Terran laughed maniacally, his hands at his hips. He ended with a final chuckle before waving his ungloved hand mockingly at Robin. He was totally unharmed.

"To bad about your friend, I guess even robots can become road kill," Terran laughed. He spread out his arms and moved into a low crouch. "But I'm still able to play."

Robin twirled his Bo-staff in his hands as he charged at Terran full sprint. He then leapt into the air and brought his Bo-staff down on Terran. The geomancer leapt out of the way, letting the staff imbed itself into the car roof. Robin struggled to pull the staff out, but it had punctured the roof and had lodged itself between two pieces of twisted metal. Terran jumped back onto the car and swung at Robin with his leg. Robin jumped out of the way and landed on the floor a few feet away.

"How did you do it," Robin demanded.

"Do what," Terran sneered.

"Why aren't you hurt? You shouldn't be able to walk after an attack by that."

Terran smiled, his chest vibrating from a silent chuckle. "Wouldn't you like to know." Robin's attention was caught by Terran's ungloved hand. It was impossible to tell from the lack of sufficient light, but his hand looked almost…boney.

"Yeah," Robin agreed, silently pulling an explosive disc and a batarang from his belt. "I would."

Robin suddenly swung his arm, sending both projectiles at Terran at once. The batarang collided with the disc before Terran could have time to react to either. There was a loud explosion as the disc detonated, and it knocked Terran from his perch. Robin now had the chance to strike Terran while he was fazed by the attack. He swung around the car, seeing a dim silhouette outlined within the smoke. Robin then thrust his fist into the silhouette; only to have Terran snatched it out of the air. He twisted it, causing Robin to let out of a grunt of pain. But something felt wrong about Terran's hand; it wasn't firm like normal human skin. It almost felt like bones. The smoke began to dissipate, leaving them both in full view.

Robin cringed under the pain, and for a moment got a glimpse of Terran's face. His face was greatly distorted, in part from the lack of light, but it almost looked like his face was discolored in small places.

Suddenly Cyborg came flying out of nowhere and slammed his fist into Terran's face, causing him to release his hold on Robin and crashing into a parked car. Cyborg landed in a crouch and announced: "NO ONE THROWS ANYTHING AT ME, YOU GOT THAT, ESPECIALLY A CAR!"

Cyborg deployed his light, giving him and Robin greater visibility. The quickly found the car Terran had been punched into, and the light fell upon Terran. He was sitting slumped over in what used to be the passenger door. His head was down, and his hair seemed to have splotches of bright and dark yellow in random places. The Titans were about to move in to secure him, when Terran slowly lifted his head.

It was a timely process. His head kept halting at random intervals, twitching as it did. And as his head moved, the coloring of his hair seemed to shift at random. Finally Terran got his head to an upright position and glared at them menacingly. But the problem was his glare was scattered all across his faces. His eyes continued to appear and disappear at random all across his face with the rest of his face doing the same. His head jerked to the side, a small spark emitting from his neck, and his face went dark. The geomancer turned his gaze back to the Titans, letting them stare into his steely, metallic face.

_Titans Tower East_

_13__th__ Floor: Holding Cell…_

"But how?"

Beast Boy tossed the roof fragment off to the side and stared down at Terran's unearthed body. This couldn't be possible; they had just seen Terran fly out of the Tower. How could he be here? Well whatever the case was, it wouldn't do him any good to let Terran die. Beast Boy wrapped Terran's arm around his shoulder and carried him off to a part of the room where the flames were not present.

"Now stay here," Beast Boy said, even though Terran obviously couldn't hear him. "One down, one to go."

_Office Building_

_Thirty-Seventh Floor_

_Manager's Office…_

"So, he's a fake."

"Exactly."

Terra stood in shock. Every time she had encountered Terran until her arrival at the Tower in Steel City it had been a fake. A replica created by Slade. The female geomancer's heart sank, unable to bear that she had believed in the fake Terran rather than her own brother. She felt horrible. Her knees began to grow week and she sank to a kneel, her eyes falling to the floor. Slade merely stood over her, his only eye gazing down at her in a rather mocking way.

"Don't feel to bad, it was actually quite clever how I pulled it off," Slade said. "I simply programmed the head on the drone to emit a holographic image of your brother onto itself. It took sometime gather the images of every angle of his face, but in the end it worked marvelously. There were times when even I began to believe he really was Terran." Somehow his attempt at understanding her fault seemed misplaced. That or he was just being sarcastic.

"But why," Terra said, "why did you create a drone to look like him?"

"To tell you the truth, I didn't build him," Slade confessed. Terra glanced up at him, her eyes full of confusion. "Yes, all the credit for the drone's creation belongs to your old friend, Brain."

It took a moment but Terra suddenly understood. Though Terra lacked the personal experience, she could complete the puzzle. The door Terran had forbid her to enter, the one even _he_ wasn't allowed to enter, must have housed the drone. Once Fortress Prime crashed from the lack of Terran's support, Slade must have gone to the crash sight and found them both.

"Terr-I mean the drone, it couldn't move the earth like Terran and I. Could it?"

Slade nodded his head in response. He turned toward the window out looking the rest of the office, examining the battle that had taken place. "No it could not. The powers that both you and your brother possess are yours alone, encoded into your very being. Not really something that can be easily replicated."

He looked back to Terra, his gaze more menacing than ever. "So I had to rely on your friends' stupidity to cover that." He closed his eye, trying to appear as if he was laughing. "I honestly expected more from the Titans, especial Robin. But I suppose your hatred for Terran was too great."

A swell of heat came over Terra and she jumped to her feet. "I DO NOT HATE HIM!"

This time, Slade actually let out a small chuckle. "I beg to differ." He pulled a device from his belt, and pressed it. It took a moment, and soon a faded voice began to resonate from it. The voice sounded like a little girl. "Do you recognize it," Slade sneered.

Terra wanted to cover her ears so badly, but she refused. She did recognize the voice, and that was because it was her own voice. The memories flooded back to her, how angry she had become at her own brother to say those words. Slade smiled beneath his mask and pressed the button again. The voice suddenly became older, matching Terra's current voice.

"This was only recorded a few months ago," Slade told her. He turned off the device and placed it back into his belt. "You cannot honestly believe that thoughts so hateful, thoughts turning into words and then actions, could be healed in that short amount of time."

Terra looked away from him, fearing that if she looked him in the eye he could see ever part of her soul. Slade stepped closer to her, causing her to flinch. "There is still part of you that hates him, and you know it." Terra mumbled something in reply, but even though Slade's acute hearing heard ever word of it, he was going to force it out of her. "I'm sorry my dear, what was that?"

"I said," Terra replied, her voice growing louder. "'At least I'm trying to change that!'" A sudden boldness grew within her and she continued. "But I can see now what you're trying to do now."

"Oh, and what would that be," mocked Slade.

"You were trying to make us believe Terran was a criminal so that we would be distracted with the wrong bad guy. And once we realize what we've been doing, it'd be too late and whatever plan you've been plotting would succeed." Terra concluded, smiling triumphantly.

Slade raised an eyebrow, and rested his chin on his palm. "An interesting thought," Slade admitted. "But there is just one thing wrong with your theory."

Terra looked up at Slade; a sense of loss was in her eyes.

"If that is the case, then why am I telling you all this?"

Slade placed his arm back at his side and sneered at Terra's shocked expression. She truly didn't understand what the purpose of the drone was. Either way it didn't matter, he had no more need for it. He circled back around the desk and stared off into in the night sky.

"You see Terra…'trust' is vital for a team to operate successfully. If there is no trust, there is no team. Only a group of people fighting for the same cause…and it is doomed to fail." He looked back to Terra, narrowing his gaze. "If the Titans do not trust Terran, then he will begin to resent them more and more, and soon he shall leave the Titans for good, nor will the Titans trust him to be on their team."

He came back around the desk and hovered over Terra menacingly. "It does not matter if you or the Titans know that what you have been fighting is been a fake. They have seen him far too many times on the other side and have come to expect trouble ever time they see him." He bent down so he was eye-level with Terra. He was almost impressed that she didn't recoil. "It won't matter if I told you or not. Terran _will_ see that hostility in you and the Titans words and actions, even if it is not intentional. He will grow to resent being a part of your team, and that will only cause problems…making it easier to break you all. And…" He raised his hand, and extended his index finger. "…it will only bring Terran closer to me."

Slade prodded his finger into Terra's forehead once, and pushed her back slightly. Terra instinctively put her hand to her forehead and rubbed it. She had felt that. She looked at Slade in bewilderment and said: "But you're a hologram."

Slade smiled beneath his mask, and slowly began to fade. "Don't worry. We'll meet again soon". His image flickered for but a moment, and then disappeared. "…very soon."

And with that he was gone, leaving Terra alone in the office to contend with her thoughts. She could hardly decide what to do next. The hologram had touched her which meant that it was possible that it wasn't a hologram at all, but Slade had really been in the room with her. Or was that a trick to distract her from going to help her friends. Suddenly there was an explosion from below and it shook the building slightly.

Terra opened the door and sprinted to the hole and dived in. She outstretched her arm and a stone platform came crashing into the building and caught her halfway down. She'd worry about Slade later; right now her friends needed her.

_Office Building_

_Garage…_

"He's getting away!"

Robin jumped from car to car, throwing explosive discs at the fleeing Terran. Terran dodged left and right, barely missing each explosion. Robin tossed another and Terran pulled a 360 in midair, grabbing it as it came at him. He flung back at Robin, but put a slight curve to it and it detonated against Cyborg who was holding up the rear. Cyborg went barreling backwards and fell out of sight.

Robin wanted to stop and help him, but if he did there was the possibility that Terran would get away. He continued to throw discs at him, flinging them slightly ahead of Terran, until one finally detonated against a car. The explosion sent Robin flying backwards while Terran was caught in the blast. The boy wonder went crashing into a car roof, giving it a three-foot indentation.

Robin held onto his back with one hand, trying to ease the pain. He eased himself up into a sitting position, cringing every time his back popped. Ahead of him was the car he had hit, now fuming with smoke. Its engine had caught on fire and had detonated the gasoline inside. Braking fluid now spilled out from underneath it, giving the floor a slight sheen. Robin's eye caught a slight motion and looked to the right of the car.

There, Terran was trying to get back on his feet. His arms, legs, and back were ablaze and the fire had seeped into his eyes, giving a demonic glow. He finally got back onto his feet and slowly limped his way towards Robin, a burning hatred within his eyes, quite literally.

"I-I-I," he stuttered, his voice changing pitch with every syllable, "I'll k-kill you!"

He suddenly lunged at Robin with incredible speed, leaving Robin with no time to react. Robin held up his free arm to defend himself, and shut his eyes, waiting for the coming blow. But it never came, only a loud bang and a distorted cry of pain. Robin blinked once before bringing his arm back down. A blond girl stepped up onto the car and extended her gloved hand to him.

"Thought you could use a hand," she said with a smile.

Robin returned the smile and took her hand, grunting as he was pulled to his feet. "Thanks Terra," he gasped, grabbing his back to steady himself. Robin pushed against his back, causing it to pop several times. "What happened to Terran?"

The geomancer gave him a smile and pointed towards the far wall where a boulder had imbedded itself into the wall. A lone hand stuck out from beneath the boulder, twitching every-so-often.

"Oh."

Robin attempted to walk, but stumbled as he did so. Terra caught him before he fell to the floor, and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"Come on," she said, moving towards where Cyborg had been blown to, "let's go home."

_Three Days Later…_

_Rest now, you have gone through much these past days…_

_Your self-sacrifice took much out of you; it almost took your life…_

_But I'm not ready for you to die yet…_

_I have far too much planned for that to happen…_

_So awaken, I have something special in mind for you. _

_AWAKEN!_

Terran's eyes snapped open and he almost jumped off the bed. His heart was throbbing and every part of his body was shaking uncontrollably. Terran clutched his heart, fearing that if it continued to beat at this pace it would explode.

He had awoken to that voice, the voice he had heard when he had died. Though its owner was still elusive, the message it bore was loud and clear. Someone didn't want him to die, and what was going on now was no where near a coincidence. Terran took a few more deep breathes to steady his breathing, and removed his hand from his heart. Terran shook his head clear and was about to lie back when…

"Hey he's awake."

Terran stopped and sat back up again. Sitting in a chair next to his bed was his sister, Terra. She smiled at him when they made eye contact, and he returned it in kind. Just then the door to the room slide open and the rest of the Titans filed in. Terran instinctively tried to get to his feet, but a piercing pain in his side kept him from moving. He gripped his side and groaned, falling back into his bed. Terra got up from her seat and stood by her brother's side. She grabbed the wet rag resting in a bole at Terran's bedside and damped his forehead.

"Its alright Terran, we're not going to hurt you," she told him reassuringly.

Terran gritted his teeth, trying to quell the pain. "Isn't that what you guys said when you first came?"

"This time we mean it," Robin said, backing up Terra's claim.

Terran lifted his head slightly so that he wasn't staring at the Titans from the bottom corners of his eyes. "Well, seeing that I can't really argue. What is it you guys have to say?"

And so, the Titans explained to Terran all the past events of that night. They started from when the Tower had experienced an explosion, to Terra's encounter with Slade and the discovery of the Terran-drone. When they finished, Terran remained silent. He scratched with one finger at the blanket that covered his body; slowly increasing in pace the longer the story went on.

"So, I was just being impersonated," he asked.

"That's right," Aqualad said.

"Brain's creations," Terran growled to himself. "Even when he's dead they still come back to haunt me. If Slade recovered that, then who knows what else he stole from him."

"Well that's what we're going to keep on eye on in Jump City," Robin said.

Terran looked to Robin, then to the rest of the Titans in surprise. "You're going back already?"

"Yeah," Robin answered, "this has shown that Slade defiantly isn't fooling around. We need to make sure our city is safe."

"-And finish constructing our Tower," Cyborg added. "I still haven't fixed all the bugs in the security system."

Terran then looked back to his sister and said: "I guess you're going back to."

Terra nodded smiling sadly as she did so. "I have to Terran. As much as I'd like to stay I have to go back. They're my team and it's my city to protect. I owe it to them after all I did. Just like you owe it to everyone to mend your actions."

"I guess so."

"Don't worry; I'll be sure to call you. It's not like you're going anywhere." Terra got up from her seat and made her way back to the Titans. They then said their goodbyes, Terra giving her twin brother one last hug, and headed back to the garage. Terran then laid his head back and tried to close his eyes when something caught his attention. He turned his head to his left and saw that the other beds in the infirmary were occupied by Bumblebee and Speedy.

Speedy and Bumblebee were quite equal in terms of medical attention. He was unconscious and covered in clothed bandages and had a cast covering his leg and arm. Bumblebee was unconscious, barely breathing. Her usual uniform had been removed and replaced with a light blue gown, though small traces of her uniform were still visible on her neck, burned into her dark skin forever.

Terran looked away, and said to Aqualad: "Will they be okay?"

"Speedy suffered a few shrapnel injuries, as well as 2nd and 3rd degree burns, slightly more severe than you," Aqualad started. He then paused, his gaze lingering on his leader's motionless body. "Bumblebee on the other hand is slightly more severe. She was caught in a lightning strike that killed every nerve from her arms to her shoulders. She's currently in a coma and…to be honest I don't know if she'll ever come out of it."

Aqualad went over to her bed side and adjusted the settings on several pieces of medical equipment. "So until we know for sure, I'll be in command of the Titans East."

"When will Speedy wake up," Terran asked.

"Most likely in a few days. It'll be some time before he's combat ready," Aqualad answered. "Now I'd love to answer more questions, but you need to get some sleep."

Terran agreed and closed his eyes, falling instantly into a deep sleep.

_Slade's Lair…_

A few cut wires, a couple short circuits, and crossing power lines and bingo. Mindcheat covered her eyes as sparks flew from the security panel, causing the door to slide open.

_Yes_, she thought to herself.

She had spent days learning how the base's electrical systems worked, and learning what each connections purposes were for. She then experimented with her own door, to make sure she had enough practice to recall the procedure by memory. When she was satisfied with her expertise in the field, she decided to head straight to her target: the room she was forbidden to enter. Even though Slade had forbidden her to go in there, it was in her nature to get into everything. The fruits of her labor resulted her with access to the room.

Mindcheat stepped inside, moving triumphantly to savor her victory. She reached for the light switch, flipping it on as soon as her slender finger grazed it. The light snapped on, but it was so dim that the light entering from the doorway was better. Still, she could see. She expected the room to contain some experimental weaponry, or Slade's own personal training grounds. But she never expected to find this.

There was nothing but shelves, each one holding a small box. There were other items farther down the room but they were hard to make out because the light from the door didn't reach that far. She felt around, making sure she didn't disturb anything, and reached for one of the boxes. She felt something made of plastic and pulled it out.

It was nothing more than a child's action figure, discolored from its age. She snorted and put it back in. _Must be his_, she snickered.

She went through several of the other boxes, finding much of the same. Old toys, dolls, a few bits of clothing, all just useless junk you'd find in an attic. Where was the good stuff? Where were the weapons, the fighting style manuals or something? Mindcheat was starting to believe that this had been a waste of time. Then again, maybe this called for more snooping. It would bug her forever trying to guess why he had all this stuff, and to whom it belonged to.

As she went down the line of boxes, the contents in them began to change. Gone were the old children toys, but now more mature items. There were bottles of perfume, a black purse, old photo albums to which Mindcheat placed in a pile for future investigation. There was also an old leather wallet, a suit and vest, old dresses and even more perfume. Mindcheat was beginning to grow bored with these useless items.

_One more box and then I look through those albums_, she told herself.

She chose a rather long box for her last search and reached inside. She felt a folded piece of clothing, its material rough to the touch. She pulled it out, but heard the sound of metal-on-metal as soon as it came out. Curiosity took over and she reached back in, feeling around for the source of the sound. She felt something thin and slender and pulled it out.

Her eyes grew wide, recognizing the shape of the object. It was a sword, and not just any sword, but a katana. She unsheathed it, gazing in awe at its size. It was almost as tall as her. She had a great urge to start swinging it around, but her better judgment told her to put it back. So she did, and turned her attention back to the outfit. She delicately unfolded it and laid it flat across the floor so that it was lit by the light from the door. It had a texture like chain mail, and was tinted in a dark blue with an ammunition belt strung from the shoulder to the waist. It had a thick leather belt, and attached to it were several pockets and a combat knife. There was a pair of thick orange gauntlets with matching boots lying limp along their respected ligaments. And at the head was a mask.

She grabbed the mask and was surprised to find it was rather soft. Like Slade's faceplate, its color was divided between a very dark shade of blue and orange. But unlike the faceplate, the mask had two eye slits instead of one. All in all, the outfit looked like it belonged to a ninja.

_This was a cool find_, Mindcheat thought, folding the suit back up and placing it back into the box. _Maybe I will look around more_.

She dusted off her hands as soon as the outfit was placed back in its box and took a step to the right without looking where she was going. She bumped into something and she quickly grabbed it to steady it. The object she was holding steadied itself and finally came to a rest. She let go of it and looked it up and down. For a moment she thought it was a person from its shape, but after several seconds she realized it was a manikin. And it was wearing something.

She touched it again, feeling a soft piece of fabric. She ran her hand along the length of it, discovering it was a dress. She backed away from it, trying to give it more lamplight. The entire dress was white and at the head of the manikin was a veil. It was a wedding dress.

Next to the dress was a nightstand, and atop it was a single gold ring. She reached to pick up the ring, but instead her hand bumped into something else. It fell against the stand and she quickly picked it back up. She looked it over with extreme interest until she realized it was a picture frame. The light was to dark to see the picture inside from arm length, so Mindcheat brought it close to her face to see. She could barely make out four figures inside, and she could barely make out that two of them were holding the other two in their laps. Even so it was impossible to see any detail. She decided to hold it to her side so it caught the light, but as soon as she did the light faded.

_Great, the light bulb died_, Mindcheat grumbled to herself and turned around. As she did her eye caught a tall figure blotting out the light from the doorway, and she froze. Cold sweat began to drop from her brow, but she didn't dare wipe it away let alone move. The figure marched closer to her, both fists clenched tightly. _I'm dead_.

The figure halted a foot from Mindcheat, and grabbed her collar firmly. She lifted off her feet and she hung in the air by her shirt. Even from the lack of light, Mindcheat could see the burning fury in the figure's eye. It firmed its grip on her collar until the fabric began to tear.

"Get…Out…" Slade spat.

Mindcheat's lips began to quiver, fearing for her own life. She opened her mouth to speak, hoping to explain, but she never got the chance. Slade wheeled around and threw her through the doorway. Mindcheat ricocheted off the wall and fell to the floor in a heap.

"GET-OUT!"

Mindcheat quickly leap to her feet and ran. She ran and ran, not bothering to return to her room to grab her belongings, until she came to the entrance of the base. The only she wanted right now was to get out. She slammed the button for the elevator, and without giving it time to come to rest, hit the button again to ride it up. The large freight elevator's gears groaned as it forced itself to move in the opposite direction and took several minutes before it reached the top. Mindcheat sprinted full speed up the staircase and burst through the door, trampling over the ragged carpet and out into the desert.


	12. Chapter 11

_I was rather dissappointed by the lack of reviews from the last chapter considering how much thought I put into it. But I'm sure that will change with this chapter. Again I encourage everyone to review._

* * *

(_I_ _got the idea for this chapter after watching an episode of News Radio. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed finishing it._)

Chapter 11

Logan 5000

_Several Days Later…_

Here, and gone again. Tiny limps propelling its master forward with great speed, and agility along the rafters. Soon it began to squirm through tangles of wires, being careful not to leave any evidence of its existence, and hoped down into an open air duct. It navigated along the maze of punctured metal until it came upon one brimming with light. It crept forward, sniffing the air for danger, and took a peek.

"Any progress with her condition?"

"Her brainwaves are starting to go back to normal, but no she's still hasn't pulled out of it."

Below, a blonde hair geomancer was talking with her twin brother. They were living replicas of one another except for a few unique traits that came with their genders. The brother wasn't even in the room, instead he hundreds of miles away, talking to his sister on the large screen that encompassed the entire window of the living room through his communicator. The sister was nestled comfortable on the couch, sipping a soda, and busily chatting with her brother whom she missed dearly.

"And Speedy," said the sister, taking another sip of her drink.

"He's doing fine, sis," the brother replied. "Aqualad letting him walk around every day for about an hour. I on the other hand have to stay in bed for another two days."

"That's good."

Her brother lifted an eyebrow and said in a moody tone. "Gee thanks. It's so nice to see my twin sister being _sooo_ worried about me."

The sister gave her twin a sarcastic smile. "Your welcome _dearest_ brother," she joked.

He laughed. "'Dearest brother'? Geez I thought you could come up with something better than that, sis."

"Well you're not that innocent sounding either, _bro_," she countered.

The twins traded a few more insults, knowing the other was merely joking, until they couldn't drag it on any longer. The two sat there in silence, occasionally smiling at one another, unable to think of anything else to talk about. If they couldn't find another topic to talk about, she'd have to wrap it up soon. Obviously neither of them was really fond of that option.

"So uhhh…anything new in Jump City, Terra," the brother asked, shrugging.

Terra bit her lip as she thought. But no matter how hard she thought, nothing really interesting popped out. "Nope. I got nothin', Terran."

Terran hung his head back, staring at the ceiling out of the view of the screen. Suddenly he swung back forward and said: "Oh right I almost forgot. Tomorrow the guys were going to-"

Terran suddenly halted mid-sentence, his mouth hanging open stupidly. He closed it and stared at the ceiling on Terra's end. "You hear that?"

Terra looked up at the spot where her twin's gaze was transfixed. She listened intently, waiting for any sign of what had caught her brother's attention when…

_Squeak_

_Robin's Room…_

Robin undid his uniforms buttons and tossed it in the clothes' hamper. He collapsed against his bed and buried his head into his pillow. The whole day he had been training Terra techniques in martial arts, and would be continuing tomorrow. She wanted to badly because she felt that she was already far behind her brother's capabilities when it came to hand-to-hand combat and needed a way to defend herself when there was no way to use her earth-powers.

Even with her lack in experience, she wasn't a terrible fighter. In fact she had surprised Robin with a few tricks of her own. She knew the basics and already knew a few fighting styles, some of which Robin had never encountered. When he asked where she learned them, Terra told him Slade had taught her during her short time as his apprentice. Slade was truly a formidable opponent and always fought at close range, so whatever Terra learned from him would be invaluable. But even so she was no expert, but she was a fast learner and picked up on her mistakes with ease. This was either because she really was a good student, or she had some personal competition with her brother.

Robin closed his eyes, hugging his pillow as hard as he could. He yawned several times before pulling his white blankets over his body and began to snore. Whatever her reasons for immediate training, it would have to be put on hold till tomorrow. Right now he wanted to sleep in his nice, warm, cozy…

_Squeak_

Robin's eyes snapped open, bloodshot from the rude awakening, at the sudden, unwelcome sound. He sat up and scanned the room, but nothing was in sight.

_Squeak_

Robin's eyes darted to the ventilation shaft on the far side of the room. The noise echoed even after the source had stopped, giving Robin undeniable proof of its location.

"Mice…"

_Titans Tower_

_The Next Morning…_

_All night…_

Those were the first and only words to come out of the six teenaged superheroes mouths. Each one dragging their sleep deprived bodies out of bed and trudging upstairs for the morning's breakfast.

_That thing would not shut up…ALL-NIGHT…_

Raven was the first to make it to the living room simple because she got the most rest out of any of the Titans. During the night she had become so aggravated by the noise that she created a gelatin-like substance to put in her ears to block out the sound. It had worked with marvelous results, but the gelatin was so uncomfortable that Raven could barley stay asleep for five minutes before it would begin seeping into her eardrums. But it sure beat the hell out of having to listen to a mouse squeak.

Beast Boy had gone to the extent to transforming into a cobra and snaking through the vents on a search-and-destroy mission. He came up empty handed, and slightly bruised, and finally retreated back to his room, only to find it was morning.

Cyborg though he had solved his sleeping problem since he could simply shut himself down and recharge. Well he did, only to commence an emergency wake-up when the mouse got into his recharger, and ate right through three sets of wires.

Terra simply tried burying herself beneath any and everything she owned to block out the noise. The only thing she gained was a very sore back.

Starfire tired a different approach to putting herself to sleep. She began singing old folk songs from her home planet that had put her to sleep when she was a child. Unfortunately for the other occupants of Titans Tower, the folk songs were loud and obnoxious. Instead of normal children songs with their calming melodies the Titans grew up with, these sounded more like a dying elephant or a vacuum cleaner with its hose clogged. Though these songs did put Starfire to sleep, she was woken up when each of the Titans personally went into her room to chew her out about the noise.

Robin was in the best mood out of all the Titans simply because he could suppress his emotions better than anyone else, though he himself was in no better condition than the others. Aside from the ruckus the other Titans were making, he was the main victim of mouse's squeaking. It would constantly run up to his vent and begin scratching at it with its tiny paws, then squeak in protest when it could not get through. Robin many times opened up the vent to catch it, but it always ran away at the last second.

They were all tired, achy, and irritated, the compounds for disaster.

Robin was the last to enter the living room, yawning and scratching his hair. Everyone else was scattered around the room, dark circles under every one of their eyes. Cyborg was twitching on the couch, he could barely hold onto the remote from his erratic movement. Raven was sitting against the kitchen counter, reading one of her many books while taking suspicious glances at everyone around her. Starfire and Beast Boy were in the kitchen, arguing over who got to use the sauce pan first. And Terra was sitting at the table off to the left, talking into her communicator rather rudely.

"YEAH, WELL HOW DO YOU LIKE THIS," she shouted to her brother on the other end. Terra then chucked her communicator at the wall and jumped to her seat and knocked over the chair. The yellow device fell to the floor with a loud _clang!_ but Terra didn't bother to pick it back up. She then stormed into the kitchen, took everything out of the fridge and headed back to the table.

Robin waved as she stormed past him, but she gave him a death stare in return. Robin back down and retrieved her communicator. It had shut off when it hit the wall and a small piece of it had chipped off the edge. The boy wonder then set it on the table Terra occupied and quickly withdrew.

Starfire suddenly started shouting something in Tamaran, and Beast Boy quickly turned on her. "Oh yeah, well blagyayayappaddada to you to!"

Starfire then shot Beast Boy with a star bolt in the rear and he yelped in pain. "So that's how it's going down eh!" He grabbed a large cube of tofu and launched himself at the female alien. "EAT IT HAHAHAHA!" He began smearing the tofu all over Starfire's face, cackling all the while.

The tofu suddenly began to bubble, turning a sickly shade of green. It suddenly exploded, sending Beast Boy flying back. Starfire wiped away the remains of the tofu from her face and let out a war cry. She grabbed a fistful of her own vile concoction and lunged at Beast Boy.

Suddenly Cyborg leapt up from his seat on the coach, writhing in anger. "ALL RIGHT," he shouted at the top of his lungs. "YA START YELLIN' IN MY EAR, WELL I'M JUST GONNA YELL RIGHT BACK!" And with that he lunged into the fray, turning a quarter of the living room in one giant dust cloud of fists and screaming.

Robin groaned at the sight, and leaned against the counter top. He rubbed his face with his hand and moaned. "What a morning…"

"What's so good about it," Terra snapped.

"I didn't say 'Good Morning'!"

"Go to hell Robin," Raven announced before slamming her book shut and getting up.

"Ditto," agreed Terra, stuffing even more food into her ever expanding cheeks.

Robin growled in frustration. There was no getting through to everyone in this condition, and now he was starting to loose his grip on his emotions.

"WOULD YOU GUYS KEEP IT DOWN," shouted Terra, trying to be heard over the intense brawl taking place in the kitchen.

"SHUT UP WOMAN," Cyborg shouted back from within the cloud.

Terra slammed everything she had in her arms and threw back the table. "WOMAN!? THAT IS IT 'TIN MAN' YOU'RE GOING DOWN!"

Terra summoned two balls of stone and slipped her fists into them like gloves. She took an enormous gulp to get her food down, and then leapt into the cloud. The carnage intensified until the noise was almost deafening.

Raven snapped her book shut and got to her feet and turned towards the cloud. It was almost completely opaque but the Titans within were still slightly visible. Raven set the book on the floor delicately and called: "If you idiots don't stop this at once than I'll stop it myself." Without warning four hands reached out of the cloud and grabbed onto Raven's cloak. "Well this can't be good."

Raven was quickly dragged into the fight and soon waves of her magic could be seen firing wildly within.

Robin, who had been standing off to the side the whole time, began to tighten his fists until blood began to slow its circulation in his hands. He wanted nothing more right now to block out the noise so he could get some sleep. But that likely wasn't to happen from all the fighting, and the yelling, and the squeaking. Squeaking?

"EVERYONE JUST _SHUT UP FOR A MOMENT_," Robin shouted at the top of his lungs.

Everyone did, but keeping their foes still within striking distance. Robin held a hand to an ear as he strained to hear the ever faint sound.

"You hear that," he asked, finally picking up the sound.

The other Titans tried hard to hear what he was hearing. They finally let each other out of a strangle hold and wandered around to separate corners of the room trying to see if they could hear better in a different location. Finally, one by one, they heard it.

_Squeak_

A swell of anger washed over the Titans as they directed the rage that had once been directed towards each other at the ceiling. The mouse was back, and this time the Titans knew exactly what to do with it.

"Let's kill it," cried Beast Boy.

"Yeah," cheered the others.

"We will burn it alive," Terra cackled maniacally.

"Yeah!"

"Then what are we standing around here for? Grab your torch and pitchforks; we're going on a mouse hunt," Cyborg announced.

The other Titans cheered, storming off to all corners of the Tower to grab anything and everything to help them in their hunt. That mouse was no longer an occupant of this house, nor was it a moocher off of their food storages. No, that mouse was a dead mouse. The Titans swore that day onward that they would not sleep, eat, or enjoy themselves until that mouse's head was thrust upon a spike. And so the hunt began…

_That Night…_

"Titans, regroup, regroup!"

The Teen Titans, the protectors of Jump City, hurriedly retreated back to the living room. Robin was the first in and he took a position by the door to watch the others' backs. Starfire, Raven, Terra, and Cyborg came in minutes later and dived behind the couch, keeping their heads down.

Robin was about to hit the switch when Terra called: "Wait! Beast Boy is still out there!"

"Why?!"

"He said he was grabbing some things!"

"Well he better hurry up or-" Robin was cut off by the sound of hurried footsteps and he took another peek. Beast Boy was charging down the hall, full sprint, while carrying what looked like a heap of garbage.

"COMING THROUGH," he screamed as he leapt through the door face first.

Once all were inside, Robin locked the doors, keeping anything from going in or out. Once that was done, Raven then sealed the vents with her magic and placed a force field around the windows to keep anything from breaking through. The lights dimmed, and everyone took a breather.

"Man," Cyborg proclaimed. "Who knew that thing could put up such a fight?"

"Yes," Starfire agreed, rubbing her arm. "Its mark of bites is rather itchy."

"Well its scratches are even worse," Terra stated while pointing to the long etches on her arms. "This will take weeks to go away."

"That's not as bad as when it snuck up behind me," said Cyborg. "That rodent clawed its way into my circuits." He shivered, recalling the incident. "I can still feel that thing crawling through my back."

Robin nodded. "Its formidable I admit, but what I don't get is how we could never detect it coming. Surely Cyborg's radar and Raven's telekinesis could have picked it up."

Beast Boy suddenly jumped out from behind the couch and stood proudly upon one of its head rests. "Well they didn't my amigos, which is why I, Beast Boy the Magnificent, have a plan!"

Everyone simultaneously turned in Beast Boy's direction. They all wore faces of either extreme amusement or extreme annoyance.

"Beast Boy…" Raven scoffed. "The Magnificent?"

"I'm still working on the name…but I do have a plan!"

Beast Boy leapt off the couch and quickly pushed it off to the side to reveal a large, tan box behind it. It had two spools where a ring of magnetic tape was strung between them and had a small radar gun connected to it by a cord.

"Oooh, junk. How amazing," Raven taunted.

Beast Boy gave her an annoyed glare. "It's not done yet. I just need to add one more piece."

"And what would that be?"

Beast Boy was about to respond when he stopped himself. He forgot which piece he was missing. He gave Raven another glare before turning his back. He looked over his contraption with great focus, trying to recall which piece he needed. The changeling pulled one of the sides off his invention and took a look inside.

"AHA!" he proclaimed. Beast Boy dashed away from his machine and ran towards Cyborg. He leapt onto his back and held Cyborg with one arm, while poking at his ear with the other.

"Hey! What are you doing," Cyborg demanded as he attempted to pull his green friend off.

"Just wait a sec," Beast Boy protested.

"GET OFF!"

Beast Boy squirmed around on his back as he attempted to hang on. He struggled to keep his hand steady and reached for Cyborg's ear. He finally gripped the lob and gave it a slight tug. A small amount of steam vented from Cyborg's ear and it extended outwards, revealing several very delicate computer disks.

"Hey who told you how to do that," Cyborg demanded.

Beast Boy didn't respond. He snatched one of the disks from Cyborg's head and closed the compartment. He then hopped off Cyborg's back and trotted back to his machine. "Just need to borrow this for awhile ok."

Cyborg was about to shout in protest but stopped as soon as the first syllable came out. The cybernetic teenager grabbed his throat and coughed a few times before trying to speak again. But again he could not hear his voice.

"Beast Boy," Robin said, noticing Cyborg was acting strange. "What did you take out of him?"

Beast Boy sat down and rummaged through the mess inside his machine, looking for a compatible slot with his newly acquired computer chip. He shouted: "Aha," finding a perfect fit and slid it home. He replaced the side on his machine and turned back to his friends. "Oh just the chip that allows Cyborg to hear, that's all." The changeling suddenly found himself pulled forward by his collar and straight into Cyborg's face.

"That's all," Robin shouted. "Beast Boy, how is he supposed to hear what's going on!"

"He's not," Beast Boy replied. "My invention is!"

"Your invention," Raven said sarcastically, finding it hard to believe Beast Boy could invent anything besides a new level of stupidity. "And what exactly is your invention?"

It took a great deal of effort, but Beast Boy finally released himself from Cyborg's grip. He then dashed over to Raven and tore her cloak from her body. "Need this for a second," he said before she could stop him. Raven was about to protest but didn't get a word in before Beast Boy draped her dark blue cloak over his invention.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Beast Boy announced proudly, grabbing the hood of the cloak. "I give you the Logan 5000!"

He tore the cloak off the invention to reveal the same machine that the Titans had seen seconds earlier. The Titans were less than unimpressed.

"Wow," Raven said before grabbing her cloak from him. "It looks even less impressive with the introduction."

Beast Boy scowled and handed Raven the radar gun while he put on a set of headphones. "Ha, ha Raven. But I'm serious. This machine can pick up even the tiniest of sounds." He began fiddling with a dial and holding the headphone closer to his ear. "Go ahead, move it around."

Raven did so, not amused at having to be the one using this ridiculous device. She swung it around the room several times while Beast Boy listened intently. "Wait stop," he suddenly shouted. Raven instantly stopped, looking back at Beast Boy. "Move it back a little."

Raven retraced her path until Beast Boy halted her again. "I got it," he shouted happily, "I hear it!"

"What?"

"Really?"

"Let me hear!"

Everyone crowded around Beast Boy, curious as to what he said was true, except for Cyborg who couldn't hear. Beast Boy had a hard time keeping the other Titans' hands off his machine, but finally he gained order. Raven, admittedly, wanted to hear, but Beast Boy refused to let her leave her position. So she was forced to go back to her position in the center of the room, holding the radar gun exactly where it was before.

"Now," Beast Boy began, snatching his headphones back from Starfire's greedy grips, "I'll let everyone hear, I just have to make sure it hasn't moved." He placed the headphones back over his ears and listened intently. He smiled at first, catching the mouse's echo, but his face soon twisted in confusion.

"What is it," Robin asked.

"I'm getting some background noise," Beast Boy replied, trying his best to identify what it was. "It's like a…clicking sound."

"A clicking sound," Robin asked.

"Yeah," Beast Boy said, listening again to verify what he said. "Like a click-clicky…click."

"So where is it coming from," The blonde haired geomancer asked.

Beast Boy gave her a sarcastic look, something he wouldn't have done if he had been fully rested. "If I knew that then I'd stop it."

Robin heaved a heavy sigh. "So I guess we need to find whatever it is that's making that sound."

"Right," agreed Beast Boy. "Whatever it is it's in this room." Beast Boy tore off the headphones and dashed into the kitchen. He began rifling through every drawer, tossing whatever wasn't needed aside. Finally he emerged from the mess and was holding a roll of duck tape. "Start wrapping everyone!"

It took two hours and a dozen roles of duck tape before the room's entire had been secured. Yet the clicking still persisted. Beast Boy, in a rage that his prized machine wasn't working properly, was about to resort to wrapping everyone, including himself, in duct tape. The team disagreed with this action, and it took a few smacks to the head to get the point across.

Instead, the team searched themselves to see if whatever it was making the sound was on their persons. But to no avail. The team gave up trying and decided to get some sleep while it was quiet while Beast Boy kept searching.

"Come on, where is it," he pleaded, swinging his radar gun around like a madman.

"Oh sure, begging will stop it," Raven taunted. She was leaning against the counter right next to him, eyeing him from the corner of her eyes. The changeling ignored her and returned to his search. "Fine, don't take my advice," Raven snapped, turning her gaze from him. But something caught her eye.

She looked back to the changeling, but that wasn't what caught her attention. She tried to remember what it was exactly that she saw, when she saw it again. This time she immediately tracked it down, and it lead to the Logan 5000.

"Beast Boy," she began, keeping her tone calm. "What exactly does this clicking sound, sound like?"

"I already told you, it was a click-clicky sound."

"Like…oh I don't know…plastic?"

Beast Boy paused. "Yeah…kind of like plastic."

"Like the plastic label that reads: Logan 5000…"

All the Titans awoke from their sleep, and turned to Beast Boy with hateful glares.Beast Boy looked at her in shock, then looked to his beloved machine, and found her to be telling the truth. The label tapped onto the machine right between the spools was vibrating.

"Huh," was all he said. "The Logans 1000 through 4000 had the exact same defect."

"Then I suppose you don't mind me doing this," Raven snapped.

Raven then ripped the label off the machine, ending the problem once and for all. But Beast Boy wasn't at all relieved. In fact he was screaming his head off. Raven was about to ask why when suddenly the Logan 5000 began sparking furiously, sending bolts of lightning across the room.

"Ok we have got to get out of here NOW," Beast Boy shouted, tearing the headphones from his head and charging for the door.

The other Titans began to panic as the machine began shaking violently, sending even more bolts into the air. They clawed at all the exits trying to get out, but the tape that had applied to every inch of the room impaired their progress. Beast Boy and Raven desperately tried to open the main entrance but quickly spun back around as the machine began glowing brightly, emitting an ear piercing whistle as it did.

"Beast Boy…"

"What?"

"I hate you."

The machine exploding in a brilliant light that blinded anyone who was staring into it temporarily. The Titans were blasted back, imbedding themselves into the duck tape. Everything was blotted out by the light and everyone in the room was engulfed by the blast. All, but one.

Above the Titans, staring down at them from above, was the mouse. It scanned the room, seeing the chaos that unfolded below, and walked away. And just as it passed out of view anyone who happened to looking up at that moment would have seen emblazed upon its hind leg a slender, black 'S'.


	13. Chapter 12

_This chapter was originally going to be longer but I felt my readers waited to long. I decided to bring in a Teen Titans character that was never really focused on in the comics and adjusted the theme accordingly. I also decided to add something to the end of the chapters to give it more of the TV series feel that I've been striving to perfect. Enjoy._

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Chapter 12

The Fallen

_Unknown California Suburb…_

Dead, it was all dead. The homes of a once happy suburban neighborhood had been reduced to nothing but piles of timber save for a few houses that were still half standing. Children had once laughed and played on its once safe streets as their parents socialized with each other, but no more. All that was left of the local population was a balding man, begging for mercy.

"Please I'm begging you, let me live," he balled, tears of fear streaming down his face. "I'll pay you anything, just let me go!"

He was snatched up off his knees by his collar and thrust into the face of a young man. The balding man clawed at the arm that was holding him captive, his fingers scratching uselessly at his captor's skin. It was cracked and rough but scalding from what looked like lava pumping through his veins. Every time he tried to grab his arm, he would pull his hands back from severe burns. The man stared up into his captures blood red eyes, but found no mercy within them.

"Please…haven't you killed enough?"

His captor lifted his scaled left arm to the side, brushing against his black raven wing, and a long katana materialized in his grasp. The man's eyes widened in horror as he forgot the scalding pain and grabbed his arm once more. He was then thrust from his captor and stumbled to regain his balance. But he never did as his captor thrust his sword into his chest, piercing it all the way through his body. The man clutched his stomach, attempting to speak but only achieved a mouthful of blood. He then fell to the ground, silenced forever more.

The young man scoffed at his pitiful sight, his sword raised high. "Now it is finished, and I can begin my harvest." His words were cold and unfeeling, a perfect match for his soul. "I now can begin my harvest; your souls shall belong to me, judgment has been passed."

His sword dropped with great speed, it would soon pierce the heart of the man he had just slain. But as his sword fell upon the man, a great light fell from the sky and protected him. The young man was thrown back by the blast, and fell to his knees.

"**Silence, you shall do no such thing,**" came a voice from within the light, its words resonating throughout the Heavens. "**For****these are my Father's children and I have come for them!**"

The young man tried to shield himself from the light, but found it encompassed everything. His skin burned fiercely and steam began to rise from his form. "Who dares to confront me," he called, his words displaying arrogant courage.

The light began to fade, revealing a man within its holy light. He was bathed in white robes, which were overlapped at the shoulders to the knees by golden cloth. His skin was a deep blue and he carried a long staff. The staff was made of pure gold and was almost as tall as the man. Near the top, the staff it split off into three pieces, one which ended in a spire with a ring of light and the other two as wings spiraling around the spire.

This man was there in the beginning, hovering over the deep waters of a formless Earth. He was there when God spoke and the limitless cosmos erupted into existence. He has always been there. Some say he is a ghost, an invisible presence that moves mightily over the Earth, calling the sons of men to faith in the Eternal One. And so he comes for he has been entrusted to reveal the truth, the glory and the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and to shine the light of the world upon the mind of man. He is the spirit of the living God, the Holy Spirit.

"Why have you come," the young man spat, trying to hide his eyes from the light burning away at him.

The Holy Spirit looked down at his pitiful sight, and aimed his staff down at him. "**Demon Lord Razgriz,**" he began, his staff beginning to glow with a holy light, "**…be gone.**"

The light cut the air as it impacted Razgriz and he screamed in pain. Light began to pour from his eyes and mouth; his skin began to dissolve from within. It wasn't before long that his voice began to hold traces of femininity. The Holy Spirit ignored Razgriz's cries of pain and turned to fallen population, and returns to his mission.

With a thought a book appears, and opens to reveal the names of the chosen children written in the language of the Angels. One by one, the Holy Spirit gathers the flock to deliver to the shepherd. Their forms begin to lose their color as rings of light rise from within them, ascending into the sky above and into the Kingdom of Heaven. Before long, he completes his role, and the children are secure.

Once it is complete, the Holy Spirit turns back to his fallen foe. He is now wrapped in a white, sleeveless top and skirt. The black raven wing had now been replaced by a wing of a dove, and the once frightening skin features he had bore were now fully healed. The Archangel Razgriz had finally surfaced.

Razgriz rose, her legs struggling to keep her upright. She clutched her head, and her white hair fell into her face. She brushed it aside, and her gaze fell upon the Holy Spirit. She immediately got back down to her knees and bowed her head. "Oh Holy Spirit," she said, her voice shaking, "I am humbled to be in your presence."

The once fierce soldier of light, now a figure of serenity and compassion, gazes down on the Angel with a smile. "**I am glad to see that there is still a part of you that still seeks the path. But I am also angered at what you have allowed yourself to become.**"

Razgriz looked up to the Holy Spirit, but her eyes still could not bare the brunt of his holy presence. "I…I am afraid I do not understand."

The Holy Spirit motioned to the field before them. "**Take a look around; see all that you have caused.**"

Razgriz did as she was told, and gaped at the horrifying sight. All the homes destroyed, the dead littering the once lively streets. It was almost too much to bear. "But I have not, I did no such thing," she pleaded, unaware that he could see right through her empty words.

The Holy Spirit looked upon her with great displeasure. He raised his staff to hear and she cringed before it. "**Your words are twisted with deceit and bathed in distrust. You say you are an Angel of the Lord yet here you are, lying before me.**" Light shone from the staff and trailed to her forehead. Suddenly a translucent image of her alter ego appeared before her, mirroring her stance. It almost shocked her how even through all the scarring and deformity; they still slightly resembled each other

"Holy Spirit," she began again. "I'm afraid I still don't quite understand."

The Holy Spirit let out a sigh, disappointed in her actions. "Razgriz," he said, his voice losing its sense of compassion. "**Have you become so entwined in your lies that you have begun to believe them yourself? Have you blinded yourself to the point that you do not even recognize yourself?**"

Razgriz looked to him in shock, but he returned her with a stern glance. "**You know what I speak of; do not fool yourself any longer Razgriz, fallen angel of Heaven.**"

The Archangel was about to speak, but she quickly fell silent. She did know what he spoke of; she could not hide it any longer. She had buried it deep within herself till the point where she'd almost forgotten on it. Razgriz wished she could, but nevertheless, it was a part of who she was.

"**Razgriz, once a revered angel in the courts of the Father, conspired with a traitor. Deep he planted the seeds of deception within you, until you chose the follow the words of a sinner rather than the words of the Father. You chose to fight for him when he tried to reach the throne of the Father, and for that you were banished from Heaven when Michael struck the final blow, and were stripped of your name,**" The Holy Spirit told her, narrating her life.

What he said was true, Razgriz had betrayed the Father and for that she was punished. She and all the other Angels who chose to follow Lucifer were cast out of Heaven by the power of God. The crashed to Earth like meteors, their body's becoming scarred and deformed from the experience. They scattered, all seeking safety among the shadows and grabbing whatever they could use for shelter. Not a one begged for forgiveness, some even saw this as a mark of honor and abandoned their names to show their defiance.

Throughout the centuries, some did decide to go back to their Father and beg for forgiveness. Razgriz was among them, but she was still afraid to return. She remembered how much it pained her to be in his presence, all her shame and sins laid bare. As legion as they were, she was forgiven. Her ugliness melted away, her body made anew in the holy light of the Father, and she was once again an angel in Heaven. But even though she was forgiven, she was not allowed to reclaim her name, Ari. She was not angered, for it was a sign she was no longer who she was. Though her name was devilish sounding, she stuck with it. But it was not the only thing she kept.

"**Though our Father spared you an eternity of suffering, you still clung to what you once were, and so it harbored within you until it gained a strong grip over you're judgment,**" The Holy Spirit continued. "**Instead of expelling it, you tried to disguise it, hoping that a different gender would fool your creator. In making him so, you have caused yourself to let down your guard, allowing him to become his own entity. Again you tried to suppress him, hoping that device made by the Teen Titans would do away with him forever. But you were wrong, and now you can no longer control him. He has begun to great for you to control. Razgriz…you need help.**"

The Holy Spirit looked down to the fallen angel with caring and extended his hand to her. Razgriz reached out to take it but as soon as her hand grazed his she withdrew and cradled it as if it had been wounded. Upon realizing this, Razgriz began to weep. Her tears trailed down her face and her arms, wetting the pavement beneath her. "I am so sorry," she wept, "I am beyond help now."

"**Silence,**" The Holy Spirit commanded. Razgriz flinched at this sudden outburst and did as she was told. "**Be still your tongue, for it shall only deceive you. You are never beyond help for the Lord shall never abandon you,**" The Holy Spirit corrected, giving hope to the broken angel. "**Judgment for your ill actions has been executed, but you did not turn to spiteful ways in retaliation. Instead you asked for mercy, and so you shall receive it. You have helped many and set them on the path, now it is time for one to help you.**" The Holy Spirit lifted his staff up to the sky, parting the clouds as his power reached up to the Heavens. "**Do not grow weak of heart, for I shall bring to you a champion!**"

And with that the Holy Spirit ascended into the sky, a crack of thunder signaling his absence. His image painted across the clouds as he traversed the sky, seeking out the Lord's chosen warrior, for he had foreseen this day and planned it so. And it was not long before he came to him, his presence hidden but message as clear as day.

_Puerto Rico…_

A boy, no older than fifteen, was kneeling before an alter. He had long, waving brown hair and equally brown eyes. He wore a white robe that had a slight overhang across the shoulders, and black knee-high boots. Set before him, which he supported with both hands, was a tall wooden cross. He murmured a slight pray, and then rose and said a final: "Amen." He turned to leave, putting his thoughts to rest and returning home. His prayer was for his deceased parents from whom he gained his Irish and Puerto Rican heritage.

He crossed his heart once as he exited the chapel and headed back to his home. It had been a long day, he was tired at it was getting late, but tomorrow it would be time to rest. His boots clicked across the unpaved road, and his eagerly altered his path as young children native to the American territory ran and played. He soon came to the hut that the village had given to him upon his arrival, and he quickly entered and removed his clothing. He then replaced them with his sleeping clothes and pulled the covers over him as he sat down upon his bed.

He murmured a final pray before he closed his eyes and began to drift off to sleep. But his sleep was not peaceful, but filled with sadness. Images of the dead littered every corner of his mind until it finally focused on that of a young woman. She was in great agony, as a young man who had spawned from her left shoulder was desperately trying to consume her. Both looked like a two headed person fighting with themselves. The two of them fought bitterly for supremacy, but after some time it looked like the young woman was finally giving in. In fact it began to look as though the young woman welcomed the change of hands. And in an instant she vanished from existence and the young man smiled with satisfaction and turned his gaze to the specter.

The religious young man awoke from his dream with a start, his chest heaving in and out with every breath. He was sweating and he quickly tore off his clothes to cool him. He then sat there, his head in his hands, wondering what the dream meant. He thought of the woman and how she had so willingly given up. He tried to focus on her face, to see if it had been someone he knew. And suddenly it came to him through the darkness.

"Razgriz…"

He tore the covers off of him and stepped over to his trunk on the far side of the room. He removed the oaken cover and set it gently onto the floor. He removed a pair of clothes that were similar to the ones he had worn earlier that day, but these were made of a finer material and had a belt strung across it that attached to belt. Strapped to the belt was a sword, its grip firm and hilt gold plated, sheathed in leather. And at the bottom of the trunk was a golden cross, identical to the wooden one he had carried earlier that day. It appeared it was time for him to be Kid Crusader once again.

**_Coming Up Next: _"Setting Fire To My Soul"**

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**Disclaimer:**_ Kid Crusader is not my creation but belongs to D.C. comics Teen Titans Series. The character Razgriz belongs to me but the name belongs to Project ACE's Ace Combat 5._


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Setting Fire To My Soul

There was a soft scraping of leather-on-leather as Kid Crusader navigated through the wreckage of the once lively suburban. His brown eyes constantly darted side-to-side, keeping an eye out for anything that might give him a clue as to what happened here. But he couldn't help but fear that his angelic friend was involved. It had been two days since he received the message of her dire situation, he could only hope he was in time.

His search didn't last long, for his amongst the deadening quiet Kid Crusader picked up the faint sound of weeping. He quickly identified the direction it was originating from and sent forth in that direction. He came upon yet another ruined street, but farther down there was a weeping girl with a wing upon her shoulder.

"Razgriz," he cried as he ran to her.

Startled by the sudden outburst, Razgriz's wing swung forward acting as a shield for her. Kid Crusader stopped when he saw this and spoke her name again in a much softer tone.

"Razgriz, it's me…"

Her wing slowly folded itself back and she raised her head from her arms. Her face was softened by tears, and her eyes were red. Her clothes were torn and they had lost their brilliant color, now they were shaded in gray. They were ripped, torn and the seams were beginning to come undone. She gave him a small smile as she wiped away her tears.

"Daniel," Her voice was so small that if there had been the slightest sound it would have blocked out her voice.

Kid Crusader returned the smile and he began to step forward…

"Don't come any closer," she cried.

He immediately stopped, confused by her sudden outburst. Her eyes locked with his in a threatening glare indicating she meant it. Kid Crusader was confused, was he not sent here to help her?

"What's the matter," he asked again, taking discreet steps towards her.

"I didn't want you to come, to see me like this," she wept.

Kid Crusader was still confused, so he pressed harder and continuing to make sure she didn't notice his forward motion. "That's why I came. I heard you were in trouble," he stated. "What happened here, what happened to you?"

Razgriz began to cry even harder and she buried her face back into her arms. She pointed weakly with one of her hands off to the side, indicating the neighborhood. "I did this, I didn't want to but I did. He's become too much for me..."

The angel hadn't noticed that the present day Templar was now standing over her, looking down at her with caring eyes. He held out his hand to her and she gazed at it with uncertain eyes. Kid Crusader didn't know what she meant by 'he', perhaps she referred to Lucifer. If this was so, than he had even more reason to help. "Then don't take him on alone, let's do it together. We'll win, and he'll be gone forever."

Kid Crusader knelt down in front of her, continuing to hold out his hand to her. She looked at it in doubt, and then slowly reached out her own hand to take. It slowly neared his hand; her fingers slowly wrapping themselves around his palm, and then stopped. She hung her head sadly, her long white hair hiding her face from sight.

"No…"

Kid Crusader cocked his head. "Razgriz…what's-"

Suddenly her hand shot forward and her fingers wrapped themselves around his neck. Her fingernails began to dig themselves deep into his skin, causing tiny trails of to drip from his neck. Kid Crusader gagged as he desperately tried to take in a breath of air, grabbing her arm in an attempt to release himself.

She then rose to her feet, continuing to hold Kid Crusader in her crushing grip. His feet were barely touching the ground and his face began to turn white from the lack of oxygen. Razgriz lifted her head up to him, her hair parting to allow him full view of her face. An angry snarl replaced her quivering lip and her eyes were now deep red.

"**NO**!"

Razgriz hurled Kid Crusader into the last standing wall of a house down the street. It came crashing down around him, covering him from his neck to his feet in loose wooden splinters and concrete. Kid Crusader cocked on the dust, but thankful that he was able to draw in a small breath of air.

Suddenly Razgriz ran at him with incredible speed and launched herself high into the air, her dove-like wing wrapping around her like a shield. A dark aura pulsed from her body; the tips of her wing injected themselves into her opposite shoulder until the wing had completely changed exit points. Her wing then thrust itself outwards; her arms and legs extending to their full length. The Demon Lord Razgriz had taken control once more.

Kid Crusader - dumbfounded at what had just become of his former guardian - laid where he was. Though he didn't stay there for long, Razgriz rapidly descended onto his position and slammed his fist into the earth where Kid Crusader had been a moment before. Kid Crusader had barely enough time to regain his balance when Razgriz lashed out at him with a large katana that had materialized out of nowhere. Instead of trying to dodge the swing, which was impossible concerning Kid Crusader's current lack of balance, he allowed gravity to pull him out of the way.

The sword barely grazed Kid Crusader's hair, taking a few strands with it,

and ricochet off the asphalt. A large gash suddenly appeared in a surviving wooden wall a few feet away from the wake of the sword. The wall then toppled over, sending dust into the air.

Kid Crusader, taking advantage of Razgriz's vulnerable state, leapt to his feet and began to put some distance between them. He didn't get far before Razgriz tore his arm from the ground and took flight, spiraling a few times before tackling Kid Crusader from behind. The two crashed to the ground, Kid Crusader leaving a permanent indentation of his face into the front yard of an abandoned home. Razgriz leapt into the air, soaring high into the cloud layer, before retracting his wing and allowing gravity to pull him back down onto his foe.

Kid Crusader barely had time to pull his face from the ground before Razgriz smashed it back in by his fall. Kid Crusader scream of pain was muffled by the earth, and Razgriz merely smiled with pleasure at his pain. He then grabbed Kid Crusader's cross, still strapped to his back, and hefted him off the ground. Razgriz curled his arm back for a throw, and threw Kid Crusader into an abandoned home.

He crashed through the remaining door frame and hadn't even touched the ground before his face was caught in the grip of Razgriz's demonic hand. Razgriz then proceeded to drag Kid Crusader at top speed across the broken floor boards, scarring his back, and rammed him through the other side of the house.

Razgriz stepped back from his battered opponent, looking down at him menacingly with his teeth gritted. Kid Crusader moaned as he tried to lift himself off the ground, but only managed to get into a half-sitting position.

"Did you think me to be so easy a prey," Razgriz spat. "That I would just roll over and die!"

Kid Crusader groaned in response.

"Frail human, I am a Demon LORD! My blade has pierced many souls, all without opposition. So what makes you think a human could match the power of a Demon," Razgriz fell upon Kid Crusader in a knell and struck him across the face with his fist to emphasize his point. "Tell me, who is inferior?"

Kid Crusader turned his had to face the Demon Lord's gaze. His face was battered and he had a trail of blood from his nose to his mouth. The choir boy smiled and said. "You. It'll always be you."

A look of sheer hatred spread across Razgriz's face. His lips curled back to reveal his carnivores teeth, and his eyes became an even darker shade of red. Razgriz slammed his fist again in Kid Crusader's face, but he only continued to smile and repeat.

"Always you…always you…"

Razgriz unleashed his fury upon Kid Crusader, one blow after another, over and over again. A normal person would not have been able to remain conscious under this amount of punishment, but Kid Crusader continued to repeat the phrase over and over.

The Demon Lord let out scream of anger and hefted Kid Crusader to his feet. Razgriz snarled upon seeing that Kid Crusader was still speaking.

Razgriz shook him violently. "What are you mumbling know?"

Kid Crusader still had a weak smile on his face. His voice was a bit groggy, but Razgriz managed to make a few of the words he spoke.

"I…I can do all things through G-God who st-strenghtens me…I can-,"

Razgriz suddenly head butted Kid Crusader, creating another cut across his lip and allowing more blood to spill down his face. He spat in his face and continued his snarl.

"So he strengthens you huh! LOOK AT YOURSELF," Razgriz screamed. "You're barely able stand, let alone breath. If he is so powerful than why have I broken you!?"

"Have…you? Or is it y-you who are broken?"

Razgriz slammed his right fist into Kid Crusader's gut, causing him to scream in pain and spew blood across Razgriz's chest.

"Hardly," was Razgriz's reply. He began to beat Kid Crusader across the face and chest until Razgriz was satisfied that Kid Crusader would not have the strength to stay conscious for long. He looked around for a moment, scanning the area for a suitable mount for his battered opponent. His eyes fell upon a wooden poll that was splintered at the top.

Razgriz smiled and dragged Kid Crusader by his collar over to the poll, and hung him by the collar, using the poll to support his weight. The Demon Lord then took a few steps back until he was a good five feet away, and summoned his katana.

"Now," he began to gloat. "While you stand weak and beaten before, futilely praying to God to save you. WITNESS MY POWER OVER HIS!" Razgriz pulled his arm back for a strike "AND DIE!"

Razgriz thrust his blade forward for a stab, aiming right for the heart. The blade cut through the air swiftly, tracing contrails in its wake. It came within an inch of Kid Crusader's heart, and then suddenly stopped. Razgriz stared at his sword in shock, finding that it could not force it any further. He looked angrily at Kid Crusader, but his head was still bowed.

Razgriz pulled his sword back and struck again, this time from a higher angle. But as the blade neared Kid Crusader, it was reflected by an invisible shelled, keeping him from harm. The Demon Lord let loose a barrage of attacks in anger, doing anything he could to penetrate the shield.

"WHY-" Razgriz screamed as he began attacking with his katana again, "CAN'T-I-HIT-YOU!"

As the sword neared Kid Crusader, it suddenly stopped. Stopped right in mid-air a foot away from his face, and this time Razgriz could not retract it. Nor could he move his own arm.

It was at that moment that Kid Crusader suddenly lifted his head. His bruises miraculously disappeared, and appeared as if the injuries Razgriz had inflicted across his whole body never happened. Kid Crusader met Razgriz's stunned gaze, staring deep into his eyes. Kid Crusader's eyes were now aglow in holy light, and it became painful for Razgriz to continue looking. But he could not shift his gaze, or close his eyes. It was if the light shining from Kid Crusader was rendering Razgriz unable to move his own body.

Kid Crusader reached up with his arm and grabbed the katana by the blade, suffering no injuries from the sharpened metal.

"It is because he does not want me to die…"

With those words Kid Crusader flung the sword back, temporarily causing Razgriz to lose his sturdy balance. An orb of light shone brightly in Kid Crusaders fist, and clenched it. This caused magnificent streams of light to leak through his fingers, again playing havoc with Razgriz's eyesight.

Kid Crusader then leapt at the fumbling Demon Lord, pressing his fist deep into his gut. Razgriz let out a cry of pain as the orb entered his abdomen, causing his entire body to spasm in pain. Several seconds later, the orb returned from his body and Kid Crusader took it to his own chest and stepped back.

Razgriz collapsed to the ground in agony, clutching his abdomen. He glared with a great hatred at the boy and snarled: "What did you do?"

Kid Crusader looked upon him with the same emotionless look as before. The space behind him was rippling, as if something were displacing the air. Razgriz looked closer, seeing the ripples begin to take shape, and a figure became outlined in a blue mist. It was the Archangel Razgriz.

"Reclaimed a lost soul."

The Archangel Razgriz looked down at her counterpart with nothing more than sheer hatred. In her right hand she wielded a sword crafted from lightning, wavering in and out of existence. Kid Crusader reached behind his back and wielded his Golden Cross, clenching it in both hands.

The Demon Lord grinded his teeth in anger and his eyes burned with hatred. How dare this kid reach into his soul, she belonged to him.

He let out an almost animal like roar as he grabbed his katana and launched himself into a low flight. He sped quickly towards Kid Crusader, but instead of attacking him head on he folded his wing back, using it as a drag chute. His body swung forward, allowing his demonic feet to make contact with the ground. A huge dust cloud aroused from the earth and engulfed Kid Crusader, blocking his line of sight.

This would buy Razgriz a few precious seconds, and he would use them wisely. Razgriz jumped into the air, using his continuous momentum to land at Kid Crusader's backside. Razgriz then spun a full 180 degrees, bringing his sword across in a horizontal slash.

The blade cut through the cloud and abruptly stopped as it impacted. The force of the swing was so strong the dust cloud was blown away, leaving them both in plain view. Razgriz smiled cruelly, imagining how Kid Crusader would look from the strike. His smile quickly faded to see that his sword had not cut into Kid Crusader, but had been blocked.

A sword wrapped in blue mist, its form in the shape of several bolts of lightning, had denied the Demon Lord his killing blow. A sword branded by his doppelganger, the Archangel Razgriz.

Kid Crusader looked back to the Demon Lord, seeing a stunned look upon the demon's faceThe Archangel Razgriz flung the Demon Lord's sword off of her own, and allowed Kid Crusader to face his opponent.

"I'M STRONGER THAN YOU," the Demon Lord howled, "STRONGER THAN HER! YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN DEAD BY NOW! NO HUMAN CAN MATCH A DEMON!"

"I already told you: 'God does not want me to die'," Kid Crusader replied calmly. He took a few steps forward, causing the Demon Lord to actually take a few steps back. "Until the day comes that God has deemed your life to end you are immortal. But when it does come, you are inescapably dead. Today is not my time, but it is _yours_."

Kid Crusader stopped his advance.

"So lay down your arms and go quietly for you cannot defeat me. Not while I am wearing his armor."

"What armor, all I see are rags," Razgriz spat.

Kid Crusader shook his head in disappointment. "Are you so fallen that you cannot even see what is in front of you? Can you not see that I am wearing the Full Armor of God, his Belt of Truth…"

Seeking to take advantage of his foes monologue, Razgriz leapt at his enemy, sword ready to strike. He swung vertically but Kid Crusader saw the attack long before it came.

"Shoes of Peace," he continued, jumping out of the way, completely evading the blow.

Razgriz turned to meet his foe, but was surprised to see a change in his appearance. Kid Crusader's belt had been transformed into a gun-metal colored steel belt, and a black cloth hung in front and behind of his legs, both ends bearing a red cross. His leather boots had become silver armored boots that came up to his thighs, it's armored plating overlapping giving it the look of old Roman Legionnaire armor but had plate's that ended in a V shape.

The Demon Lord shook off his surprise and attacked again, this time attempting to drive his sword into his chest.

"…Breastplate of Righteousness…"

A plate of armor engraved with a red cross on the front suddenly replaced Kid Crusader's cloth shirt, its designing bearing resemblance to the boots his was now wearing. Razgriz's blade could not penetrate the armor, but got caught in one of the faults along the armor.

"Shield of Faith…" said Kid Crusader, snapping the sword in half with his gauntlets that now replaced his sleeves.

The Demon Lord stared in disbelief at his broken sword. This wasn't possible, this sword was supposed to be unbeatable; he had stolen it from the Great Serpent himself.

"Helmet of Salvation…"

A band of silver rose from Kid Crusader's chin and stretched up and around his cheek bones and connected at his forehead and temple.

The Demon Lord Razgriz dropped his broken sword and turned to run, building up speed for take-off. But Kid Crusader was not about to let him escape. He took off after him, his feet slowly rising off the ground. Within seconds he was flying, his guardian angel acting as his wings, and he gripped the shortened end of his gold cross in one hand and the elongated end in the other.

"And the SWORD OF THE SPIRIT!"

With one swift stroke Kid Crusader pulled on both ends of the cross, and it came apart. The elongated end fell away as if it were a sheath to a sword, revealing a double-edged blade cast in fire.

Kid Crusader swung, slashing Razgriz from shoulder to waist. The blade left no mark, but the effect was still present. Razgriz began to stumble, clutching the area where the blade had struck his heart. He looked back to his foe, now the victor in this battle.

Kid Crusader did not return the look, merely reattached the piece of the cross to sheath his sword.

"It is finished," said Kid Crusader.

Razgriz's gaze turned to the ground and said in an almost sad voice: "So it is." He instinctively looked at his hands, seeing that the veins that once glowed red were going dark.

Kid Crusader turned his back to the defeated Demon Lord, and began to walk back the way he came. "And now I leave you. Your master can claim his own."

And with those words, the arms of Lucifer reached out to claim their prize. Latching onto the Demon Lord Razgriz with an unbreakable grip, and pulled him down into the earth with them. The River of Fire would be his home. He vanished beneath the surface, but not without uttering a final word of warning. "If I die so does she, I am her body and without it she cannot live."

Kid Crusader let out a sigh of relief, his armor vanishing to reveal his normal attire. His mission was done, and there was no need to fight anymore. But the Demon Lord's parting words clung to his mind. He was right; the Archangel's soul had been ripped from his body, what would become of her?

Suddenly a slight chill grazed Kid Crusader's shoulder, and he instinctively looked. He saw the Archangel Razgriz smiling down at him, looking happier than she had been in years.

"Don't worry about me," she said as if reading his thoughts, her voice sounding like it was an echo of a voice long since silenced rather than her actually speaking at that moment. "I've shed apart of myself that needed to be remade. I'll go be with our Father, and when the time has come he shall remake me into something better."

She leaned down and gently kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you."

A beam of light shot from the Heaven's and surrounded Razgriz in a holy light. She gave one last smile to her friend before disappearing into the sky.

"I'll always be watching over you."

And with that she was gone, leaving Kid Crusader alone in the abandoned suburban neighborhood. Having no more need to stay here, he decided to go back to his home in Puerto Rico.

But he did not realize that far above him, at the Gates of Heaven, the Holy Spirit in all his glory looked down upon him with a smile. Tony Daniel, the young boy who fought in the name of the Father as Kid Crusader, had done well this day.

The Holy Spirit looked to his right to see Ari, the young angel who had fallen long ago and abandoned her name, smiling as well. He placed his hand on her shoulder like a caring father and she looked up at him in reply.

Though a sinner, Tony's heart and soul were with the Lord, and in the darkest of pits his trust would never waver. His faith would always triumph over his fears, but sin would always arise no matter how strong he was.

But he was still the Lord's creation, and like all his creations it was declared that:

"It was good."

**_Coming Up Next_: "Memoirs of a Geomancer"**

**Disclaimer**: _The name Tony Daniel is actually the name of the man who created Kid Crusader. Kid Crusader's ethnic background (Irish, Puerto Rican) are also taken from Tony Daniel._


	15. Chapter 14

_I apologize again for my absence, but a word of caution. I know people are reading, but the lack of reviews isn't really giving me great motivation to keep up on my writing. But not you FantasyMind93, thanks for the continued support!_

Chapter 14

Memoirs of a Geomancer

There was a quick tap on the door, its sound reverberating throughout the room. Terra was kneeling by her bed with random items of hers scattered across it when the knock came. She looked towards the door, already knowing who it'd be.

"Come in," Terra called.

The door slid open and Beast Boy stepped in. It had become part of his daily routine to stop by Terra's room first thing in the morning to 'escort' her to breakfast.

"Hey Terra," he said cheerfully.

The blonde teenager turned to her green skinned friend and smiled. He walked over to her bed side where she was sorting a few items.

"Whatcha doin'," he asked, leaning over her to get a closer look.

His chin was practically resting on the top of Terra's head, and Beast Boy could already feel that butterfly feeling in his stomach. Terra too was forcing herself not to blush, though she could hardly keep herself together in such a close proximity to him.

"Just organizing my stuff," she replied, trying to take her mind off her hormones.

"You…organizing," Beast Boy joked as if he couldn't believe his ears.

"Speak for yourself," Terra retorted, using the same playful tone as Beast Boy.

"My room's not _that_ messy," Beast Boy replied, which everyone in the Tower knew was a great understatement.

"Sure..." said Terra, making it sound as flirty as possible. She turned her attention back to her things, when suddenly Beast Boy rested both arms across her head.

"What are you doing," she demanded, looking up at him through her hair.

"Quiet, armrests don't talk," Beast Boy replied. He nodded to himself, trying to make it look as though he was pondering the facts of life.

Terra thought about throwing him off, but decided she enjoyed the physical contact and left him there, her hormones had won this round. She continued to go through her things, occasionally snatching things back from Beast Boy who randomly picked up her stuff to look at. He mostly did it to annoy her; he thought she was cute when she was irritated. Most of her items where CDs, magazines, and old camping equipment she had used during her days on the road. But one item caught Beast Boy's particular interest.

"What's this," he asked, grabbing a small, furry yellow foot hidden under Terra's bed.

Moving faster than she ever moved before, she caught Beast Boy's hand in a death grip just as his hand wrapped around the foot. As he tried to pull away she squeezed tighter.

"Terra," Beast Boy cringed, "That's starting to hurt."

Terra wasn't wearing her gloves at this time so, along with her ever tightening grip, her nails were pressing down into his skin.

"Then let go."

Beast Boy pulled the object farther out from under the bed before Terra began squeezing harder.

"What is it?"

"None of your business, Beast Boy!"

"I just want to see…"

"NO!"

Knowing Beast Boy wouldn't take no for an answer, Terra grabbed his hand and tried to pry the leg from his grasp. To counter this, Beast Boy used his free hand to try and push Terra out of the way. The two soon became locked in several odd and uncomfortable positions ranging from headlocks to pressing their feet into the other's face, both trying to gain the advantage over the other until Beast Boy finally declared:

"AHA! IT IS MINE! MWHAHAHAA"

He rolled Terra off of his back and quickly dashed to the other side of the room. He held up Terra's possession like a battle trophy, gloating at Terra. But his gloating was short lived when he actually saw what he was holding.

"Huh," he stammered, "a…teddy bear?"

"Yes," said Terra, leaning on her arm as she lay on the floor, "_my_ teddy bear."

She got up off the floor and took it back from him, holding it tightly to her chest. Terra gave Beast Boy a very angry look before turning her back to him and heading back to her bed.

"Terra," he started, hoping he could make amends quickly, "don't be mad, I didn't know it was that embarrassing."

Terra felt like yelling at him for that comment but held her tongue. He didn't know its significance to her, that it was one of her last memories of home. But she still felt that he crossed the line, but she wouldn't get that angry at him. She scratched her yellow teddy bear's ear, and buried her head into it.

No she wouldn't get angry at him, not she had at Terran so long ago.

_"Terran give her back!"_

_Terran spun around and tauntingly waved his sister's teddy bear in air. "Make me!"_

_Terra growled furiously and chased after her brother who was already halfway down the stairs. She jumped the last steps and turned the corner sharply and chased after him into the kitchen. It was that time of week again where the twins had had spent so much time together that it was inevitable they'd get into a fight._

_"TERRAN," she screamed, "give me back my bear, NOW!"_

_Terran snuck a peak at her from the other side of the kitchen table and shouted back: "Not until you admit that I'm older and better than you."_

_Without warning Terra dove under the table and grabbed Terran's leg and pulled him to the floor._

_"Never," she screamed and grabbed her teddy bear._

_The twins rolled around on the floor, hitting and kicking each other until Terra finally pinned her twin brother to the floor. She tried to tear her bear from his grasp but he always kept it out of her reach, but barely. Terra reached out farther before finally grabbing its foot and pulled hard._

_The bear pulled free of Terran's grasp and once it was firmly in Terra's as she took off running into the living room. Terran let out an audible growl and charged past his sister and once again snatched her teddy bear from her grasp. The twins darted in and out of ever corner of the house, the bear trading hands several times before Terran ducked into the downstairs bathroom and locked the door._

_"TERRAN," his twin sister screamed at the top of her lungs, "OPEN THE DOOR!"_

_She yanked on the door handle in a futile attempt to open the door, before kicking it. She was shaking in anger, tears beginning to well in her eyes. She wanted to get him back so badly. That bear was her prized possession, how dare he take it._

_Terra stomped up to her room in a fuss, leaving Terran to camp out alone in the bathroom by himself. She stood at the doorway to her room, shaking with fists clenched. She wanted to cry out she hated him, but knew it wasn't right nor would she believe it to be true, so she would find a way to get even._

_It was then she thought of something, something that was guaranteed to invoke the same reaction she was having. It would work; after all they were twins…_

_Meanwhile as Terra plotted her revenge, Terran was still locked up in the bathroom. Terra had stopped beating on the door and now the house was unusually quiet for occupying two seven year olds. Terran was sitting atop the toilet seat, swinging his feet back and forth, wondering when it'd be safe to come out._

_Terran looked down at his sister's teddy bear and tried to think of a good way to give it back. He wasn't trying to be cruel to his sister, he was just bored. And when they were bored they resorted to picking on each other. She had been getting on his nerves lately and this was his way of venting it. He would give it back and they would stay away from each other for a few hours and then go back to being brother and sister as if nothing happened._

_Just then Terran heard his name being called and he hopped off the toilet seat and ran to the door. He unlocked it and took a quick peek outside and an instant swell of anger came over him. Terra was standing in the living room, holding one of his action fingers, and taunting him._

_"Oh Terran," she called, as if to a pet, "look what I have."_

_"HEY," Terran cried, racing out of the bathroom with her bear in hand. "GIVE THAT BACK! IT'S MINE!"_

_Terra turned her side to him, holding his toy just out of his reach. She pushed him away with her free hand and demanded: "First give my teddy bear back!"_

_"No, give me my Mento back first!"_

_"You first!"_

_"No you!"_

_The two twins circled around each other, keeping their hostages out of the others' grasp, while attempting to take back they're own possession. They performed this strange dance-like motion for several minutes until they finally gave up and tackled each other once again. They were so busy fighting that they didn't notice the front door opening a few feet away from them. Two older men walked inside, one with chalk white hair and the other with stormy gray hair. The man with the gray hair walked over to the two fighting siblings and grabbed them both by their sleeves and yanked them apart._

_"That is enough!"_

_The two instantly froze, staring into the man's deep blue eyes. His face was tight as he glared at the two, making them both feel far smaller than they already were._

_"Hi daddy…" they muttered._

A cry of disdain emanated from Titans Tower, causing most – if not all – of the occupants to jump.

"TERRAN! What do you think you're doing?"

The male geomancer, wearing only a pair of black pants looked up at his acting team leader, Aqualad, with an expressionless face. He gave a modest shrug and continued with his set of one-arm pushups.

"Terran, how many times do I have to tell you to get out of bed? This is the third time…TODAY," Aqualad continued.

"I've suffered worse," Terran retorted and switched arms.

Aqualad groaned, giving up on convincing Terran otherwise. He walked around Terran to the other medical table where their real leader still laid unconscious. Bumblebee was lying quietly, face up, and breathing with the help of medical breather. A monitor by her bed was monitoring her brainwave activity; so far it was still registering as normal.

It was a miracle that she was still alive. Though she was caught in a deep coma, but there was no sign of brain damage. Sadly her arms hadn't been so lucky. The lightning strike had badly damaged the nerves in both her arms, rendering them both completely paralyzed. A corporation that excelled in robotics, S.T.A.R. labs, the same company that had saved Cyborg, had agreed to construct a device to accommodate her condition.

Terran finally finished his exercise and stood up to brush himself off. He grabbed an undershirt off of his bedside and slipped it on. He then proceeded to walk out of the infirmary.

"Where do you think you're going," Aqualad called after him, but not giving chase.

"For a walk, I'm tired of lying around all day."

Aqualad was about to speak again, but gave up. He wasn't exactly the leader type, and telling Terran what to do was like keeping a baby from crying. It was simple impossible. He only responded if he felt like it, or it benefited him in some way.

Terran walked down the hallway, his arms behind his head. He was bored of being coped up in the infirmary, he had to get out and do something. Maybe go for a run, or just see the sites of Steel City. Something!

He thought about calling his sister up, but for some reason the idea didn't seem that great. It wasn't that he didn't like talking to her, he really enjoyed their chats. But he began to notice lately that he'd have these drastic mood swings. It was almost as if he's old way of thinking was trying to push its way back to the surface, like Brain was still in his head. The idea wasn't exactly farfetched, except for Brain. Having your thoughts screened and directed for a decade wasn't exactly something that could easily be changed.

He noticed it especially when he thought of his sister. There were times when he'd just suddenly become irritated at the thought of her. And when she called, he would sometimes let the communicator ring until she gave up. Terran knew he should feel bad about it, and did. He was more disappointed in himself because he thought he was able to put the past behind him than anything. Terran should be setting the example. He was older, smarter, and more mature of the two. Or so he hoped.

_The twins' father let go of their shirts and crossed his arms. He glared at them both, disappointed in their behavior especially in front of a guest. The twins gazed down at the floor, afraid to meet their father's gaze. He could really be intimidating at times, sometimes without even saying doing anything. He was a man who commanded authority simple by being in your presence. They would never dare call him by name._

_Terran and Terra both shifted uneasily in the positions, afraid to move let alone speak. Their father tapped his foot impatiently, switching his gaze from one to the other._

_"Is there an explanation for this behavior," their father asked, his voice calm but intimidating._

_"Sorry-" the twins began._

_"That's not what I asked," their father snapped, not about to allow his kids to weasel their way out of this one. "Why are you two fighting?"_

_Terra looked up at her father, and then quickly snapped her finger in Terran's direction. "He started it!"_

_"I did not," Terran shouted in his defense. "You were teasing me!"_

_"You took my teddy bear!"_

_"You took my Mento figure!"_

_The twins growled and clenched their fists, preparing for another fight. They completely forgot their father was still a few feet away from them, at least until he got between them and dragged them by their shirts up the stairs. He dumped Terran in his room and Terra in hers before glaring at the two of them._

_"Thank you for the welcome home," he said. He went back downstairs, leaving his kids to stew in their rooms. Their father went on talking to their uncle, but the twins didn't bother to listen in. They were to busy glaring at each other from across the hall. _

_The twins' uncle stood up from his chair as the father came back down the stairs. He then followed the father down the hall and into his office._

_"Are Terran and Terra fine," the uncle asked. He had never seen them act that way before, at least in front of him. "I never knew they fight like that."_

_The twins' father nodded as he sat down in his leather chair. "Yes they're fine, Wintergreen. And yes they do fight like that, quite often actually," he admitted, a little ashamed at his kids' lack of maturity. But what could he expect from 6 year old twins? "It's usually nothing really serious, a few punches here and there but-"_

_He was suddenly stopped when there was a quite knock at the door._

_"Honey, are you in there," asked a rather attractive female voice._

_"Yes, you came come in."_

_The door creaked open, and a blonde hair woman stepped through the door, his wife. Wintergreen turned to her and smiled, to which she returned gratefully._

_"Hello William," she said sweetly, embracing her old friend._

_"It is good to see you to Adeline," Wintergreen replied._

_"So," Adeline began, turning her attention back to her husband, "Where have you guys been, you've been gone for a month."_

_"Here and there," Her husband smiled, giving her the usual answer. He never did give a straight answer when it came to his career. Only Wintergreen, his closet friend, knew what he did on his 'business trips'._

_"Ok," said Adeline, nonetheless giving her husband a smile. "Then what did you guys do?"_

_"The usual."_

_Adeline was about to press further when a loud _bang_ echoed from upstairs. Two sets of feet raced from one end of the 2__nd__ story to the other, the noise allowing the three adults below to follow their ever move._

_Adeline sighed. "I'll get it." Before she left she gave her husband a quick kiss, saying: "Welcome home," before heading upstairs to breakup the latest brawl between her children. "And be ready to go into town tomorrow, we're taking the kids to Sunday school, ok."_

_Her husband nodded in response and watched his wife leave the room. The two older men remained silent until the door had closed, and Adeline was well out of earshot._

_Wintergreen turned to his friend and gave him a displeased look. He looked up at Wintergreen and returned the look._

_"I know."_

_"Then why do you do it," Wintergreen asked, once again drilling his friend on being honest with his wife. "She's you're wife, she'll love you no matter what."_

_"I don't want to trouble her."_

_"But you're troubling her by not telling her what you do."_

_"There's no point now."_

_"The longer you wait the harder it will be for her to accept it," Wintergreen countered._

_The man sitting in the chair put his hands together, resting his chin upon them. "Not if there's nothing to tell."  
_

_Wintergreen gave his friend a suspicious look, sensing that he was implying something. "What do you mean by that?"_

_"I've been thinking," the man began, considering his choice of words carefully. "Perhaps its time I dismantled it."_

_Wintergreen remained silent, listening intently to his friend's confession. He knew something had been on his friend's mind for awhile, but he never guessed that it was something this extreme._

_"You're right; I shouldn't be keeping things from my family. I guess it's time I left the past behind, they're my future now. My work is getting in the way of them." He looked up at Wintergreen. "It's time to…"_

"Terra, you coming?"

Terra snapped awake, letting her memories slip into the back of her mind. She must have dozed off for awhile, she and Beast Boy were the last ones left in room. She yawned, outstretching her arms as far as they could go, stood up off the couch.

It was already dark outside; the other Titans were likely getting ready to head off to sleep. It sounded like a good idea herself; absolutely nothing had happened that day. It just dragged on and on, it was all the Titans could do to keep themselves from the cruel reality of boredom

"Yeah I'm coming," she finally replied, smiling.

Terra took Beast Boy's arm and the two left the room together. They walked on till they came to the elevator. Beast Boy pressed the button and called the elevator to their floor. But as the door opened, Terra pulled her boyfriend back and motioned toward the door at the far end of hall.

"Let's take the stairs," she said. It was more of a command than a suggestion.

"Why," asked Beast Boy. "All we're going to get is…_exercise_." He dragged out 'exercise' to make it sound as revolting as possible.

Terra smiled at the joke and tugged him towards the door. "And the walls and roof haven't been finished; we can see the stars from there."

Beast Boy followed, not having much of a choice, and the two were soon ascending the staircase. It was completely exposed on three sides, due to the fact that the Tower hadn't quite completed its repairs, allowing a complete view of the night sky.

"Isn't it beautiful," Terra said, staring out across the water that separated the Tower from the rest of Jump City.

"Yeah," Beast Boy agreed, his attention more on the tightening grip Terra had on him than the scenery.

Terra was to preoccupied by her sightseeing that she hadn't realized she was practically leaning her entire weight onto Beast Boy. She bent her head back farther to get a full view of the stars, practically toppling them both over.

"I used to stare at the stars a lot," she continued, not much caring that Beast Boy was struggling to carry them both up the stairs. "You know, back when I was traveling. I practically memorized all the constellations."

"So I've been told," Beast Boy replied. He knew this speech by heart, Terra always recited it whenever they went stargazing.

"Terran does to, but he's hardly ever gotten a chance to look at them for himself."

Ok, that was new.

"How come," asked Beast Boy.

"He lived in a mountain, remember?"

"Ah."

The two fell silent for a moment as they continued to ascend the stairs. Beast Boy's attention switched from keeping he and his ever-so-clingy girlfriend balanced, and Terra herself. Her face was blank, indicating she was deep in thought. She got like this sometimes; it usually meant she was troubled by something.

"So, how's he doing," Beast Boy asked, trying to strike up a conversation to distract Terra from her thoughts.

Terra snapped out of her dazed look. "Huh?"

"How is he?"

"Oh, um…" Terra bit her lip as she thought. "I don't know. I didn't talk to him today."

Beast Boy was shock. "But you talk to him everyday!"

"Yeah well, he didn't answer today."

They stopped at the door leading to the floor with their rooms and Terra let go of Beast Boy's arm. Her expression was still dazed; this was probably what she was thinking about before. They stepped out of the cold night air and into the Tower and proceeded to their rooms. Being his usual self, Beast Boy walked Terra to her room. She didn't speak until they got to her door.

"Goodnight," she said, before stepping inside.

The door closed but Beast Boy caught it and slid it back open.

"Hey, I'm sure he was just busy or something," he said cheerfully.

Terra gave him a smile and said: "You're probably right."

She walked back to the door and kissed him before telling him goodnight again. She listened as Beast Boy walked back to his room before slumping down on her bed. Terra pulled her communicator out from her pocket, staring at it.

_I'll try one more time before going to bed_, she thought.

She flipped it open, causing it to make a faint _clicking_ sound and keyed the button to call her brother. At least, that's what should have happened. Terra looked at her arm curiously, wondering why her fingers weren't moving. She tried moving her other arm, but it had gone stiff.

Terra began to feel sick, her stomach churning and her mouth beginning to overproduce saliva. Her entire body had gone stiff, as if every muscle had cramped simultaneously. She tried to cry for help but only accomplished getting drool in her lap. There was a soft _click_ next to her ear and felt someone pull her from behind. She fell backwards onto her bed, confused and frightened. All she could do was stare helplessly at the ceiling, as she was dragged off the bed by an unknown force.

Terra hit the floor with a _thud!_ Her head throbbed from the impact, but there was little she could do to stop the pain.

"Geez you're heavy."

Terra's eyes shot wide open upon hearing this unfamiliar voice. Her eyes darted around the room, looking for the intruder. But no one was there, for the moment.

Suddenly a female figure melted into existence the moonlight. Her long red hair was blowing over one shoulder, and had one hand on her hip and the other tossing and catching a small cylindrical device. She looked a little older than Terra, and seemed quite pleased at Terra's helpless state.

The figure stared down at Terra, allowing the fear to seep into Terra that she was the one in control.

She smiled, and then beckoned to the window. A dozen or more figures crawled in through the window, totally silent. Their eyes glowed an ominous yellow, and they quickly filled the room until there was little room to move around. The girl made another motion with her hands and the other figures headed out into the hall. Once there were all gone, the girl turned her attention back to the helpless geomancer and knelt beside.

She smiled again, showing her this time, and reached into pocket and pulled out a flat rectangle.

"Don't be frightened," the girl taunted, her voice sounding surprisingly sweet and innocent. "It's not going to hurt you."

She placed it on Terra's arm, and gave it a small tap. The rectangle then came to life, flashing blue and casting light unto the intruder's face. Terra felt surprisingly light, and her vision began to blur.

"See you soon."

**_Coming Up Next: _"Hauntings of the Past, Reality of the Future Part 1"**


End file.
